guide to invoker (exort-quas) for 7.01 patch

Introduction

Hello guys this is Gil Bot presenting you a guide to Invoker. I'm sorry for the people who liked my Shadow Fiend and Anti-Mage guide and waited so long for my next guide. I've been busy playing Dota 2 to reach 5k sadly it is not going the way I think it will go. So here is my new guide so please read and enjoy the contents. :)



NOTE: THE SKILL BUILD PART OF THE GUIDE IS KINDA BROKEN I THINK DOTAFIRE KINDA MESSED IT UP SINCE THEY ADDED A NEW PART OF IT WHICH IS THE TALENT TREE. BUT I WILL FIX IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

About the author

I'm Gil Bot a 17 year old Dota 2 player and as of now Invoker is one of the heroes i'm having fun using. I am just a 4K player but I think i'm experienced when it comes to using the hero.

About the Hero

Invoker is one of the best if not the best crowd controllers/disablers in the game. Unlike other heroes, Invoker is unique because he possesses a total of 14 abilities in his arsenal. The first 3 skills which are called Quas, Wex, and Exort can be leveled up to 7 times and can have 3 instances which in conjunction with his ult, Invoke allows him to have access to 10 more spells. These 10 spells allows him to do a lot of things like damaging enemies in a fight, buffing you or your allies, giving crowd control, and even saving himself from danger. These 10 skills scales based on the level of your Quas, Wex, and Exort which means Invoker can have different impact on different stages of the game depending on how he levels these 3 Orbs. This aspects makes him very flexible in nature which means he can be equipped with different items depending on the way you want to play him. But this means he is very level dependent and item dependent. He is also one of the hardest heroes to master since knowing how to use 14 spells is not a joke. This is why I wouldn't recommend Invoker to beginners but to those who are familiar to the numerous mechanics of the game, trying this hero should be fine.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Fun to play if mastered
Very solid laner which allows you to win most mid matchups if done correctly
Wide pool of item selections
Very flexible in nature
Provides tons of crowd control
Very excellent pusher
Provides lots of AoE damage
In the hands of a good player, Invoker can comeback even after an awful, awful start


Cons

Very high skill cap
Hard to master
Requires fast hands and good sense in the game
Very item and level dependent
Very high manacost and quite long cooldowns on his skills
Fragile
Slow movement speed
Almost always gets nerfed every patch T_T

Skills

Quas

Description

Allows manipulation of ice elements. Each Quas instance provides increased HP regeneration

Cast Animation: 0+0
Instances of Quas per Cast: 1
Health Regen Bonus per Quas Instance: 1/3/5/7/9/11/13
Cooldown: O

Notes:

1. The cast of Quas is not registered as a spell cast and thus does not proc any on-cast effects.
2. Quas interrupts Invoker's channeling spells upon cast.
3. Quas can be leveled 7 times, at levels 1/3/5/7/9/11/13.
4. Invoker can only have up to 3 instances up at any time. The orbs floating above Invoker are visible to everyone.
5. If he already has 3 instances, the oldest instance is replaced. The order of instances can be seen in the HUD as status buff icons, the oldest one being on the left.
6. Restores health in the form of health regeneration, so it regenerates 0.1/0.3/0.5/0.7/0.9/1.1/1.3 health per Quas instance in 0.1 second intervals.
7. Can restore up to 60/180/300/420/540/660/780 health in one minute per Quas instance.
8. This is how much health regeneration Invoker gains from 1, 2 and 3 Quas instances:

a. 1 Quas Instance: 1/3/5/7/9/11/13 health regeneration
b. 2 Quas Instances: 2/6/10/14/18/22/26 health regeneration
c. 3 Quas Instances: 3/9/15/21/27/33/39 health regeneration

This skill gives Invoker bonus HP regeneration as long as he has instances of this orb up. The bonus HP regeneration allows Invoker to stay in lane for long periods of time because this gives him sustain from enemy damage by simply having instances of this orb. This HP regen may seem small in the first glance but this may prevent you from going back to base to heal and even save gold by preventing you from purchasing healing items to keep yourself topped up.



Wex

Description

Allows manipulation of storm elements. Each Wex instance provides increased attack speed and movement speed.

Cast Animation: 0+0
Instances of Wex per Cast: 1
Attack Speed Bonus per Wex Instance: 2/4/6/8/10/12/14
Move Speed Bonus per Wex Instance: 1%/2%/3%/4%/5%/6%/7%
Cooldown: 0

Notes:

1. The cast of Wex is not registered as a spell cast and thus does not proc any on-cast effects.
2. Wex interrupts Invoker's channeling spells upon cast.
3. Wex can be leveled 7 times, at levels 1/3/5/7/9/11/13.
4. Invoker can only have up to 3 instances up at any time. The orbs floating above Invoker are visible to everyone.
5. If he already has 3 instances, the oldest instance is replaced. The order of instances can be seen in the HUD as status buff icons, the oldest one being on the left.
6. This is how much attack speed and movement speed Invoker gains from 1, 2 and 3 Wex instances:

a. 1 Wex Instance: 2/4/6/8/10/12/14 attack speed and 1%/2%/3%/4%/5%/6%/7% movement speed
b. 2 Wex Instances: 4/8/12/16/20/24/28 attack speed and 2%/4%/6%/8%/10%/12%/14% movement speed
c. 3 Wex Instances: 6/12/18/24/30/36/42 attack speed and 3%/6%/9%/12%/15%/18%/21% movement speed

My most favorite orb since this scales extremely well in the late game since the bonus attack speed makes you attack so fast even without spending money on attack speed items. Also the bonus movement speed is quite negligible in the early game but in the later stages of the game makes Invoker move so fast. In the late game I usually have these orbs floating on me since this allows me to move quicker on the map.



Exort

Description

Allows manipulation of fire elements. Each Exort instance provides increased attack damage.

Cast Animation: 0+0
Instances of Exort per Cast: 1
Attack Damage Bonus per Exort Instance: 4/8/12/16/20/24/28
Cooldown: O

Notes:

1. The cast of Exort is not registered as a spell cast and thus does not proc any on-cast effects.
2. Exort interrupts Invoker's channeling spells upon cast.
3. Exort can be leveled 7 times, at levels 1/3/5/7/9/11/13.
4. Invoker can only have up to 3 instances up at any time. The orbs floating above Invoker are visible to everyone.
5. If he already has 3 instances, the oldest instance is replaced. The order of instances can be seen in the HUD as status buff icons, the oldest one being on the left.
6. This is how much attack damage Invoker gains from 1, 2 and 3 Exort instances:

a. 1 Exort Instance: 4/8/12/16/20/24/28 attack damage
b. 2 Exort Instances: 8/16/24/32/40/48/56 attack damage
c. 3 Exort Instances: 12/24/36/48/60/72/84 attack damage

Since this is an Exort- Quas Invoker guide, in the early game you should spend most of the time having this orb floating around you since the bonus attack damage is just so sick in the early game. This allows you to secure lasthits, denies easier and giving you a very high attack damage which allows you to pack a punch when attacking enemy heroes or structures. This aspect is outclassed in the late-game by the Wex orb though.



Invoke

Description

Combines the properties of the elements(the 3 orbs) currently being manipulated to create a new spell for Invoker to use.

Cast Animation: 0+0
Spells Invoked per Cast: 1
Max Spells: 2
Cooldown 6 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. 2)
Mana 60 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. 0)

Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. Decreases cooldown and removes mana cost from Invoke. Adds one level to the stats provided by Quas, Wex, and Exort on all Invoked spells.

Notes:

1. This is an innate ability and does not need to be learned.
2. A button is located right above the ability icon. It opens a list which shows the required combination for every invoked ability.
3. Invoke interrupts Invoker's channeling spells upon cast.
4. The arrangement of element instances does not matter.
5. When already having two spells invoked, invoking a new spell replaces the older spell.
6. New invoked spells are always placed in the 4th ability slot. The previously invoked spell is moved to the 5th slot in the process, while the previous spell in the 5th slot is lost.
7. When invoking a spell which is already invoked, Invoke neither costs mana, nor goes on cooldown. If the re-invoked ability was in the 5th ability slot, it moves into the 4th, swapping position with the other invoked ability.
8. When not using legacy or custom hotkeys, the hotkey for the spell in the 4th slot is always D and the spell in the 5th slot is always F.
9. The Aghanim's Scepter upgrade does not improve the passive bonuses granted by Quas, Wex and Exort. It makes invoked spells consider them 1 level higher than what they are. This means that it does not grant Invoker any of the abilities Quas, Wex and Exort when they are not learned yet.

So this is you ultimate, Invoke. This is an INNATE skill which means you have this skill starting level 1. This combines the current orbs floating around you to create a new spell to use. You can have up to 10 possible combinations,which gives you 10 more spells in your kit.

Your Aghanim's Scepter upgrade means that if example your Exort orb is at level 2, the skills that scales with the Exort orb will be one level higher than what is supposed to be, which simply means you will have level 3 Exort orb even if u didn't leveled up your Exort orb three times. When all of your orbs are at max level(level 7) and you bought an Aghanim's Scepter, you will basically have level 8 of these orbs.



Cold Snap

Description

Invoker draws the heat from an enemy, chilling them to their very core for a duration based on the level of Quas. The enemy will take damage and be briefly frozen. Further damage taken in this state will freeze the enemy again, dealing bonus damage. The enemy can only be frozen so often, but the freeze cooldown decreases based on the level of Quas.

Damage Type: Magical
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: 1000
Damage per Proc ( Quas): 7/14/21/28/35/42/49 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /56)
Stun Duration per Proc: 0.4
Trigger Cooldown ( Quas):
0.77/0.74/0.71/0.69/0.66/0.63/0.60 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /0.57)
Debuff Duration ( Quas): 3/3.5/4/4.5/5/5.5/6 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /6.5)
Cooldown: 20
Manacost: 100

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 3 Quas instances.
2. Cold Snap immediately triggers on the target upon cast, so the next proc can only happen after the trigger cooldown.
3. Every time the effect triggers, the target is stunned and damaged.
4. Only triggers on damage equal to or greater than 10 (after reductions).
Only triggers on damage equal to or greater than 10 (after reductions).
5. Cold Snap does not trigger on self-inflicted damage, and on damage flagged as HP Removal.
6. With its current trigger cooldown and debuff duration, it can trigger up to 4/5/6/7/8/9/10(/11) times (including the initial trigger upon cast).
7. Can deal up to 28/70/126/196/280/378/490(/616) damage (before reductions) when triggering as often as possible.

This is one of your best laning spells which if used correctly, can make you a scary hero to lane against. Combined with your high attack damage and your Forge Spirits damage and minus armor, you can easily melt enemy heroes in your lane. This skill provides extra damage to every skill and auto attack received by the enemy also mini-stunning them in the process. This means that this skill synergize with damage over time like Ignite, Urn of Shadows Soul Release, and even your Chaos Meteor since this keeps the opponent repeatedly mini-stunned.



Ghost Walk

Description

Invoker manipulates the ice and electrical energies around him, rendering his body invisible. The elemental imbalance created as a consequence slows nearby enemies based on the level of Quas, and slows Invoker as well based on the level of Wex.

Cast Animation: 0+0
Fade Time: 0
Slow Radius: 400
Enemy Move Speed Slow ( Quas):
20%/25%/30%/35%/40%/45%/50% (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /55%)
Self Move Speed Change ( Wex):
-30%/-20%/-10%/0%/+10%/+20%/+30% (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /+40%)
Duration: 100
Cooldown: 45
Manacost: 200

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 2 Quas and 1 Wex instances.
2. Ghost Walk DOES NOT INTERRUPT Invoker's channeling spells upon cast.
3. The movement speed slow on the enemies is provided by an aura. Its debuff lingers for 2 seconds.
4. The slow debuff places some particles on the affected units, allowing them to know that Invoker is nearby.
5. Invisibility is lost upon reaching the cast point of spells or items, or upon launching an attack.
6. Ghost Walk allows Invoker to pass through other units, including wards but not buildings.
7. Invoker can pick up or drop items without breaking the invisibility.

This is your primary escape mechanism but honestly this skill is quite unreliable in the early game since it slows Invoker until you have at least 4 levels on your Wex orb(or 3 levels of Wex + Aghanim's Scepter) and it has a very high manacost of 200. But in the late-game it provides Invoker almost maximum movement speed. But use this skill with caution since going near enemy units will slow them and place a debuff(they will leave white footsteps as they walk) so they will be aware that you are nearby. You can also stay invisible indefinitely since the duration is longer than its cooldown. You can also use this to chase if you have sufficient levels on your Wex orb but I don't suggest using this trick every time since it may put you in a bad situation that you don't have this ready when the time you desperately need to escape.



Ice Wall

Description

Generates a wall of solid ice directly in front of Invoker for a duration based on the level of Quas. The bitter cold emanating from it greatly slows nearby enemies based on the level of Quas and deals damage each second based on the level of Exort.

Damage Type: Magical
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Wall Spawn Distance: 200
Wall Length: 1200
Wall Width: 105
Damage per Second ( Exort): 6/12/18/24/30/36/42 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /48)
Move Speed Slow ( Quas):
20%/40%/60%/80%/100%/120%/140% (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /160%)
Wall Duration ( Quas): 3/4.5/6/7.5/9/10.5/12 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /13.5)
Slow Duration: 2
Cooldown: 25
Manacost: 175

This skill is quite hard to use PROPERLY since it requires you to be near to the place you want to place this wall on which means the chance that you will get focused by the enemy team will be higher but if you can somehow put a nice Ice Wall off, that can cause a lot of trouble to the enemy team. This skill offers the following uses:

Disengaging- having a teamfight then suddenly the tide has turned against your team? Just go to a tight passage way then place an Ice Wall. The 160% slow is enough for your team to escape since it will basically slow enemies to a crawl unless they have skills or items that will let them pass the wall without touching it.

Area Denial- I'm 110% sure that no one wants to pass through an enemy Ice Wall. If u think a 50% slow is broken well this skill provides a 160% slow. So this means that if they can't pass the wall without walking straight into it, they will find a way around it which denies them a place which can be favorable for your team. Another good example is preventing the enemy team from sieging high ground by placing an Ice Wall in the front of your tier 3 tower.

Kiting- this skill will make heroes like Sven, Ursa, and Tiny cry because this skill ensures that they will be kited for days as long as you can place it on their tracks unless they have a Black King Bar.

Chasing- this is quite hard to pull off since the Ice Wall will always be in front of Invoker. So how you can hit an enemy your are chasing with this skill? Be sure that your aware of how long is your wall so you can be sure if you can hit the enemy or not. If u can hit him/her, slightly turn to the left or right as you chase them then use Ice Wall. If you somehow do it correctly, they will be hit by the tip of the wall,slowing them in the process allowing you to reach them.



EMP

Description

Invoker builds up a charge of electromagnetic energy at a targeted location which automatically detonates after 2.9 seconds. The detonation covers an area, draining mana based on the level of Wex. Deals damage for each point of mana drained. If EMP drains mana from an enemy hero, Invoker gains 50% of the mana drained.

Damage Type: Magical
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: 950
Effect Radius: 675
Effect Delay: 2.9
Mana Burned ( Wex): 100/175/250/325/400/475/550 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /625)
Damage per Burned Mana: 60%
Self Mana Gain per Burned Mana: 50%
Cooldown: 30
Manacost: 125

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 3 Wex instances.
2. Applies the mana loss first, and then the damage.
3. Invoker only gains the mana when it burns mana from heroes. Mana burned on illusions and other units does not restore mana.
4. The damage and the restored mana are dependent on the amount of mana burned on the enemies. This means if the enemy had no mana left to burn, it deals no damage to it and does not restore Invoker's mana.
5. Fully affects invisible units, but not invulnerable or hidden units.
6. Can deal up to 60/105/150/195/240/285/330(/375) damage to each affected unit (before reductions).
7. Can restore up to 50/87.5/125/162.5/200/237.5/275(/312.5) mana for Invoker from EACH affected hero.
8. The visual effects and the sound during the 2.9 seconds effect delay are visible and audible to everyone.

This skill is one of my favorite skills of Invoker because it gives him so much mana sustain in fights as long as you hit multiple enemies with it. But this skill doesn't give you much mana back until you at least leveled your Wex orb to level 4(or level 3 + Aghanim's Scepter). This provides Invoker the mana capacity to bombard the enemy team with his spells while having the needed mana in case the fights get longer. This can be also used to deny a certain are just like Ice Wall since the 500 mana loss per hero is not a joke. This can leave heroes like Faceless Void, Sven, and Chaos Knight with little to no mana left.



Tornado

Description

Unleashes a fast moving tornado that picks up enemy units in its path, suspending them helplessly in the air shortly before allowing them to plummet to their doom. Travels further based on the level of Wex. Holds enemies in the air for a duration based on the level of Quas. Deals base damage plus added damage based on levels in Wex.

Damage Type: Magical
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: 2000
Effect Radius: 200
Travel Distance ( Wex):
800/1200/1600/2000/2400/2800/3200 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /3600)
Base Damage: 70
Bonus Damage ( Wex): 45/90/135/180/225/270/315 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /360)
Cyclone Duration ( Quas): 0.8/1.1/1.4/1.7/2.0/2.3/2.6 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /2.9)
Cooldown: 30 (Talent Tree ---> 15)
Manacost: 150

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 2 Wex and 1 Quas instances.
2. The Tornado travels at a speed of 1000 and always travels the full distance, so it takes 0.8/1.2/1.6/2/2.4/2.8/3.2(/3.6) seconds to reach the max distance.
3. The Tornado can hit units up to 1000/1400/1800/2200/2600/3000/3400(/3800) range away (travel distance + 200 effect radius).
4. Applies a Cyclone effect on the affected units, so it applies a basic dispel on them, turns them invulnerable and fully disables them for its duration.
5. The damage is applied upon losing the Tornado debuff. Can deal up to 115/160/205/250/295/340/385(/430) damage to each affected unit (before reductions).
6. While in the air, other units may pass below the cycloned units.
7. The Tornado provides 200 radius flying vision as it travels. This vision does not last.
8. Also provides the same vision for 1.75 seconds after reaching its final destination.
9. Does not lift Roshan, but damages and interrupts him for a split second.
10. The Tornado blocks neutral creep camps.

This is your main initiation skill so keep that in mind. This skill allows you to reach opponents from far distance as long as you hit them with this. This skill got nerfed badly in the last patches because way back then this skill gives a lot of vision which is broken for scouting but you can still use this to scout even though not as good as it used to be but it is still something. This allows you to setup your other skills like Ice Wall, Chaos Meteor even Sun Strike. Keep in mind that this skill provides a basic dispel which means it can purge rune buffs like Rune of Haste buff or other buffs like Guardian Angel which means it is like an AoE Diffusal Blade in my opinion. This skill also deals decent damage and has a quite short(kinda short) cooldown so you can use this as a semi-decent farming tool to clear large creepwaves.



Alacrity

Description

Invoker infuses an ally with an immense surge of energy, increasing their attack speed based on the level of Wex and their damage based on the level of Exort.

Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: 650
Attack Speed Bonus ( Wex): 10/25/40/55/70/85/100 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /115)
Attack Damage Bonus ( Exort): 10/25/40/55/70/85/100 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /115)
Duration: 9
Cooldown: 15
Manacost: 45

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 2 Wex and 1 Exort instances.

In my games, this skill is my most used skill of Invoker since its cheap manacost and low cooldown means that you can use this on flash farming, buffing teammates(to be honest I rarely buff teammates with this unless they have an auto-attack damage that is very higher compared to mine), pushing towers(this skill combined with 3 Wex instances and your Forge Spirits will melt towers), taking Roshan or just buffing my auto-attack damage in teamfights. The bonus 110 auto-attack damage and attack speed is just broken for its low manacost and low cooldown.



Sun Strike

Description

Sends a catastrophic ray of fierce energy from the sun at any targeted location, incinerating all enemies standing beneath it once it reaches the earth. Deals damage based on the level of Exort, however this damage is spread evenly over all enemies hit.

Damage Type: Pure
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: Global
Effect Radius: 175
Effect Delay: 1.7
Damage ( Exort): 100/162.5/225/287.5/350/412.5/475 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /537.5)
Cooldown: 25
Manacost: 175

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 3 Exort instances.
2. The damage is spread evenly among all affected units within the targeted area, including creeps.
3. Damage is only spread among units which are damaged by Sun Strike. All unaffected units do not soak up any damage.
4. Does not affect wards, buildings, invulnerable or hidden units.
5. Provides 300 radius flying vision at the targeted point for 5.5 seconds upon cast.
6. The visual effects and the sound during the 1.7 seconds effect delay are visible and audible to allies only.

This skill is my favorite skill if I'm running an Exort- Quas Invoker. This type of Invoker build is very slow right so ganking sidelanes will be hard,right? Say no more because the damage of this skill is often enough to help your teammates in the sidelanes but I strongly suggest use this to secure lasthits on enemy heroes even if it means kill stealing from your allies(your a midlaner anyway, so that is allowed). This skill allows Invoker to get levels fast if he secures kills since even if you are not near the target as long as you killed him/her with this, you will get the experience. Landing this skill requires practice though since you need to predict which way the opponent is going and how much time will he/her take to reach the point where you want to place the Sun Strike unless your allies use a disable to hold the opponent in place. This skill deals pure damage and pierces spell immunity so you can use this to snipe enemies even they have their BKBs on. Oh and this skill is just so fun to use because the feeling of sniping and enemy healing on their fountain is even better than ******* seriously.



Forge Spirit

Description

Invoker forges a spirit embodying the strength of fire and fortitude of ice. Damage, mana, and armor are based on the level of Exort while attack range, health, and duration are based on the level of Quas. The elemental's scorching attack is capable of melting the armor of enemy heroes.

Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Number of Forged Spirits: 1 (Talents 2)
Spirits Attack Damage ( Exort): 22/32/42/52/62/72/82 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /92)
Spirits Attack Range ( Quas): 300/365/430/495/560/625/690 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /755)
Spirits Max Health ( Quas):
300/400/500/600/700/800/900 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /1000)
Spirits Max Mana ( Exort): 100/150/200/250/300/350/400 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /450)
Spirits Armor ( Exort): 0/1/2/3/4/5/6 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /7)
Spirits Duration ( Quas): 20/30/40/50/60/70/80 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /90)
Cooldown: 30
Manacost: 75

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 2 Exort and 1 Quas instances.
2. Casting Forge Spirit replaces the spirits from the previous cast, no matter who they are owned by.
3. The spirits are always summoned next to Invoker at a random position around him, but always facing east upon spawn.
4. Forged Spirits possess the Melting Strike ability.
5. Already summoned spirits do not get their stats upgraded when Quas or Exort is leveled. Their stats are set on what they were upon spawn.

This skill is the next skill you will use the most after Alacrity. This synergizes well with your Cold Snap since there will be multiple units to attack the enemy target, causing them to be repeatedly mini-stunned and the minus armor that this spirits provide makes sure that you can pound the enemy with your auto-attacks. The damage that this spirits deal is often underrated but the longer they hit a target the more damage they will deal. This skill combined with alacrity makes Invoker a very good pusher since this spirits are too tanky which means they can tank creep waves and they deal a very respectable damage. This also serves as your bodyguards in the early game since they can block skillshot abilities for you like Sacred Arrow or Meat Hook and also it is guite discouraging to gank an Invoker with his Forge Spirits summoned and his Cold Snap ready.



Chaos Meteor

Descrition

Invoker pulls a flaming meteor from space onto the targeted location. Upon landing, the meteor rolls forward, constantly dealing damage based on the level of Exort, and rolling further based on the level of Wex. Units hit by the meteor will also be set on fire for a short time, receiving additional damage based on the level of Exort.

Damage Type: Magical
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: 700
Effect Radius: 275
Travel Distance ( Wex):
465/615/770/920/1070/1220/1370 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /1520)
Effect Delay: 1.3
Effect Interval: 0.5
Main Damage per Interval ( Exort):
57.5/75/92.5/110/127.5/145/162.5 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /180)
Burn Damage per Second ( Exort):
11.5/15/18.5/22/25.5/29/32.5 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /36)
Burn Duration: 3
Cooldown: 55
Manacost: 200

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 2 Exort and 1 Wex instances.
2. The Chaos Meteor needs 1.3 seconds to land. It lands at the targeted point, not at Invoker's position.
3. Can hit units up to 1440/1590/1745/1895/2045/2195/2345(/2495) range away (cast range + travel distance + radius). The area between Invoker and the targeted point is unaffected.
4. The visual effects and the sound during the 1.3 seconds effect delay (the meteor falling from the sky) are visible and audible to everyone.
5. The Chaos Meteor rolls at a speed of 300 and always rolls the full distance, so it takes 1.55/2.05/2.56/3.06/3.56/4.06/4.56(/5.06) seconds to reach the max distance.
6. After landing, the meteor deals its main damage and places the burn debuff to units within its effect radius in 0.5 second intervals, starting immediately upon landing.
7. The main damage can hit a unit up to 4/5/6/7/8/9/10(/11) times and thus can deal up to 230/375/555/770/1020/1305/1625(/1980) damage (before reductions).
8. The burn debuff deals damage in 1 second intervals, starting 1 seconds after the debuff is placed, resulting in 3 instances for each debuff.
9. The debuffs from each interval fully stack and do not refresh each other. So a unit can be affected by 4/5/6/7/8/9/10(/11) instances of the burn debuff per cast.
10. One instance of the burn debuff can deal up to 34.5/45/55.5/66/76.5/87/97.5(/108) damage (before reductions).
11. All possible instances of burn damage per unit together can deal up to 138/225/333/462/612/783/975(/1188) damage (before reductions).
12. The whole Chaos Meteor, main and burn damage, can deal up to 368/600/888/1232/1632/2088/2600(/3168) damage (before reductions) when a unit is hit by all possible instances.
13. The Meteor provides 400 radius flying vision while it is rolling. This vision does not last.
14. Also provides the same vision for 3 seconds after reaching its final destination.
15. The meteor blocks neutral creep camps after it has landed. Does not block camps during the effect delay.

This meatball is your most damaging skill but it has the longest cooldown on all skills on your kit which is almost 1 minute. This can deal a lot of damage if the opponent will be damaged by the meteor for the whole duration even though is it very unlikely to happen. This synergizes well with AoE disables, your Deafening Blast and even with your Cold Snap. Just like Tornado you can use this to clear big waves of creeps but use this only if you think there won't be a reason for you to use it in the next few minutes.



Deafening Blast

Description

Invoker unleashes a mighty sonic wave in front of him, dealing damage to any enemy unit it collides with based on the level of Exort. The sheer impact from the blast is enough to knock those enemy units back for a duration based on the level of Quas, then disarm their attacks for a duration based on the level of Wex.

Damage Type: Magical
Cast Animation: 0.05+0
Cast Range: 1000
Starting Radius: 175
Travel Distance: 1000
End Radius: 225
Damage ( Exort): 40/80/120/160/200/240/280 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /320)
Knockback Distance ( Quas):
45.6/88.6/133.5/171.5/205/242.1/274.3 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /302.67)
Knockback Duration ( Quas): 0.25/0.5/0.75/1/1.25/1.5/1.75 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /2)
Disarm Duration ( Wex): 1.25/2/2.75/3.5/4.25/5/5.75 (Upgradable by Aghanim's Scepter. /6.5)
Cooldown: 40
Manacost: 300

Notes:

1. Ability invokes when Invoker has 1 Quas, 1 Wex and 1 Exort instances.
2. Deafening Blast travels at a speed of 1100 and always travels the full distance, which takes 0.91 seconds.
3. The blast can hit units up to 1225 range away (1000 travel distance + 225 end radius).
4. The complete area is shaped like a cone.
5. Applies a non-disabling Forced Movement, so affected enemies can still use spells and items during it and their channeling spells are not interrupted.
6. The knockback and disarm are applied at the same time.
7. When the talent for it is chosen, Deafening Blast releases its blasts towards every direction around Invoker, no matter what point is targeted. A total of 12 blasts are released. One blast is released towards the targeted point, while the other eleven are adapted to it, with 30 degree angles between them. A unit can only be hit by one blast per cast, so when a unit stands between two, only one hits it.
8. Can knock units over impassable terrain. During the knockback, all trees the units collide with get destroyed.
9. Does not knock back Roshan, but damages and disarms him.

This skill is broken until it received LOTS OF NERFS in the last patches. When the AoE Deafening Blast is released, it is like a bigger version of Ravage with a disarm but now is doesn't interrupt channeling spells and u can cast spells during the knockback, the disarm and the knockback are applied in the same time (this sucks because before after the knockback your opponents can't do **** because they will be disarmed which makes this an anti-carry skill) but now the disarm is only the reliable thing with this skill even though the AoE damage is still something but quite ... you know..meh it is not that ok (but still ok-ish). This skill is the skill you will rarely use in the early game because the manacost is a whopping 300. You can also use this after using Tornado on creeps to clear them without attacking them but like Chaos Meteor be aware of the situation because this skill even is is nerfed badly is still good against carries. But the most common way to use this sell is to use this with your Chaos Meteor to push the enemy while the meteor rolls onto him/her,causing high amounts of damage.

Talent Tree

In this situation I will discuss my chosen path in the talent tree and the situations you might consider to go to other paths of the tree.

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Level 10: 125 health or 15 damage

I chose the health over the damage since for me the bonus 15 damage is pretty trash since your Alacrity gives way more than that and your high intelligence gain will make that pretty useless while the bonus health, even it is also quite lacking is still something that can make Invoker is suffering, a poor health pool coupled with a very low strength gain.

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Level 15: +25% experience gain or +1 Forge Spirit summoned

To be honest, I spent a lot of time thinking about this since the bonus experience gain is really massive for Invoker since the bonus XP allows him to reach his levels faster but the +1 Forge Spirit is very useful since is makes you push harder, jungle if required and it synergizes very good with Cold Snap so chose the +1 Forge Spirit over the bonus XP.

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Level 20: +35 attack speed or +7 all stats

To be honest the plus attack speed is pretty useless since with your Wex orbs and Alacrity, you won't have the need for that attack speed and the +7 stats is like having the level 25 attribute bonus Invoker has before. So i chose the stats over the attack speed.

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Level 25: -15s Tornado cooldown or AoE Deafening Blast

Since the rework to Invoker's Deafening Blast, I started to love it so much that I got very disappointed after the nerfs it received in the previous patch. And I will tell you now, I am very disappointed since you can only get this AoE Deafening Blast at level 25 unlike before you can get this as early as level 22. So I chose the AoE Deafening Blast since I really love the rework since it allows you to potentially disarm the whole enemy team and the -15s cooldown of Tornado is quite useless since Invoker's core item includes Octarine Core which solves the quite long cooldown of Tornado.

Item Build

STARTING ITEMS



This is my favored starting items... So why Wraith Band? Invoker is an intelligence hero right? Well yeah he is but with Exort he can hit like a truck so the extra damage from the null because is more than enough. Since the recent nerf to Invoker that lowered his base agility, the Wraith Band became an option since Invoker needs to hit an enemy frequently to proc Cold Snap which is his main laning spell. And since Invoker is a natural Ring of Basilius carrier since the aura buffs his Forge Spirits, Wraith Band is good to combine with the basi ring.



This item build is the item build that I use most of the time before the nerf to his agility. I think is build is for the Quas Wex since QW Invoker lacks damage. But still an item build to go if you want.



I would only recommend this item build if you are facing a Zeus in the lane. Since this build ensures you will rack up wand charges since most Zeus players will use his Arc Lightning to grab lasthits since the auto-attacks of Zeus and his backswing.....SUCKS...



Only go for this build if you are facing a Razor in the mid lane because the extra movement speed is required since razor will most be likely use his Static Link to zone you out of the lane and since Invoker is very slow, not buying an early boots will ensure that you will be bullied for the next 2-3 minutes.


EARLY GAME ITEM SELECTION



Pretty self-explanatory. As an Exort- Quas Invoker, you won't get you early levels of your Wex orb so you are pretty sluggish so the extra movement speed can be life saving.



This item is not necessary for Invoker but because of the nerf to his starting intelligence, you will find yourself quite mana-starved most of the time because you will use Forge Spirits most of the time to secure lasthits and discourage ganks. So if you are low on mana, ferrying a couple of these will help.



I usually buy this after getting the first bounty rune to have extra regen with my pooled tangoes. That's all I can say. Oh it can save you trips from base so you won't miss experience.



This item is very useful for midlaners since midlaners tend to trade spells most of the time and the damage block of this cheap item can save your *** from ganks. Also gives a nice source of mana regen.



Buy this item if you are facing a midlaner who spams a spells a lot like Phantom Assassin, Zeus etc.



This item is considered a CORE item for an Exort- Quas Invoker(at least for me). This ensures you will have a solid source of experience and gold that can help you get back in the game after an awful start. Also combined with Sun Strike, this ensures you will have an experience lead to your opposing heroes.



This is one of my favorite early game items for Invoker since this item buffs your Forge Spirits by a lot and helps you push the lane. Also gives you a solid mana regeneration.



Always carry a TP scroll. That's one of the main rules in Dota. For just 50 gold this item can be used for quickly getting back to the lane to farm or escape from enemy heroes or to assist other lanes even though using your Sun Strike to assist your team is the better call.



Buy this item if you need the extra movement speed to add with your boots also good if you are facing a Razor in the lane. Also you can turn this into a Eul's Scepter of Divinity or a Drum of Endurance which both items are good on Invoker.


MID-GAME ITEMS



This is my preferred boots for an Exort- Quas Invoker. This boots gives the movement speed that he badly need since Invoker is very slow. Also this allows you to split push very well which is very good since Invoker is a very good pusher because of his spells.



This is my preferred mobility item for Invoker. This allows you to position yourself since most of your spells are position based and this also can be used for escaping and chasing purposes.



I rarely buy this item on almost every hero but now I buy this most of the time when playing Invoker since this provides a cheap source of movement speed, attack speed, health, mana, and more which is good for early skirmishes and good for pushing especially when you use its active.



I don't buy this item every game because I like to go Aghanim's Scepter after my Drum of Endurance but you can buy this item if you to snowball yourself through solo pickoffs since this allows you to set up a Sun Strike into Chaos Meteor into Deafening Blast combo which almost instakills any hero at that point of the game. But I buy this if I need the active to remove pesky silences and other debuffs.


HOW TO USE THE "EUL'S COMBO"?

This combo allows you to instakill heroes which allows you to get high levels and additional gold. But using this skill requires you to know the delay of the Sun Strike and Chaos Meteor and how long does the active of this skill lasts. Here's how you use it:

1. Be sure you have Chaos Meteor and Sun Strike are already Invoked.
2. Find a lone enemy which is far from creeps (why far from creeps? because simply you dont wan't the Sun Strike to hit the creeps too which drastically reduces its damage).
3. Quickly use the Eul's on the chosen enemy.
4. After 1 second, use Sun Strike and Chaos Meteor under the cyclone then quickly Invoke Deafening Blast (QWER).
5. As soon as the enemy lands, quickly hit him with your Deafening Blast.
6. Hit with your auto attacks if required.



This item is the item that is 100% required(at least for me) in all of your Invoker games. This gives you solid stats and drastically reduces the cooldown and removes the manacost of Invoke which is nice since with you constantly switching spells, the 60 mana will be quite a lot after a long time. But the thing I like second about this Aghanim's Scepter upgrade is it makes your Invoked spells one level stronger than what they are used to be. Which means example you have level 6 of your 3 orbs, buying Aghanim's Scepter will theoretically give you the spells with the benefits of lvl 7 spells and if your orbs are maxed it will give beyond that which kinda sounds like level 8 Quas, Wex,and Exort which makes your teamfight presence stronger.


LATE-GAME ITEMS



This item is a CORE in the late-game for Invoker since this reduces the cooldowns of all of your spells and items which is a godsend for Invoker. Also gives the most mana on all the items you can buy on the shop. Also allows you to life steal a percentage of the damage your spells are dealing which is nice since you, most of the time will nuke the enemy with spells which heals you if you have this item which gives you extra survivability.



Ahh..... Refresher Orb... After Aghanim's Scepter this item is my second favorite item for Invoker because this basically allows you to bombard enemies with your spells provided you have fast hands which allows you for some godlike combos that can wipe the enemy team. Also gives you health regeneration and a lot of scaling mana regeneration. But when the game goes super late, just let this item stay in the backpack until the times comes that you need to use it since it just gives you scaling mana regeneration which you don't need much so you can carry more stat-giving items.



This item is not 100% required in the late-game but if you find the need to lock a specific hero down, buying this will do the trick. A good replacement of Eul's Scepter of Divinity in case if you go for one.



Also not an item you will buy in 100% of your games but if you need to protect yourself from physical damage or if the carry of the enemy team hurts so much, this item will reduce his/her damage output. Also the active can be used to see through the fog of war to prevent enemies from juking you.



Usually i buy this item as a 7th item because there are lots of items that are more important than this one. But a good investment if you have spare gold because it allows you to TP to your comrades to go to places you otherwise can't TP into because there are no ally creeps there for example the jungle.



Another item to buy if you have some gold to spare. U will only buy this if you have the necessary gold(oh save buyback first) because the bonuses that it provide are quite negligible since Alacrity fills what you need but if you have the gold to spend, go for it.



Sometimes you just can't avoid being controlled or disabled by the enemy team and this item solves that problem. But don't buy this unless you really need to since it gives negligible stats. Still a nice item to have in the backpack when the game goes super late.



This item is common for Quas- Wex Invoker but it is also good for Exort- Quas Invoker since the active and the stats it gives is very good though it comes with a very high price. This allows you to scale through late-game and to deal with evasion-based heroes like Windranger , Phantom Assassin , Brewmaster etc. Also a good counter to heroes like Puck, Storm Spirit, Morphling, and Faceless Void.



Situations that you will need this item is quite rare. But if you just need to protect your self from a high damage enemy carry like Phantom Assassinor Clinkz but still have the need for an additional nuke, buy this item if you want. You can also use the active on your teammates to save them.



I will only recommend this item for one reason: to kite an enemy carry. But if you don't need that, there are many superior items than this one.



Blink Dagger is more superior than this one but this item allows you to deal with heroes that other your blink dagger can't do **** with like Clockwerk or Pudge. Also unlike blink dagger, this item provides nice stats especially if you upgrade it.



Go for this item if you are having problems with heroes that have BKB-piercing single target spells like Rupture, Duel and Doom otherwise skip this because it gives "meh" stats.



A good investment in the late-game if you have extra money to spend and you want an extra item in your backpack since you can just TP to a lane, summon your forge and this necro units and with Alacrity, towers will just melt. Also the melee necro unit is very good against invisible heroes like Bounty Hunter or Riki. The necro units also gives a good mana-burn which is good against certain heroes like Medusa.



This item is good if you are in a situation that you need to defend the base against mega creeps. Also allows you to hit hard and the active can be used on your tank or to yourself to discourage enemies from focusing you. Also good against illusion-based heroes like Phantom Lancer.


THERE ARE A LOT OF ITEMS THERE IN THE STORE THAT CAN BE GOOD FOR EXPERIMENTING SO I WILL LEAVE THOSE FOR YOU TO FIND OUT. :)

Gameplay

START OF THE GAME

Get your starting items immediately to quickly stroll the outside area with your team but please don't buy your starting items without thinking (the item section above will help). Then head out with your team to stroll around for a bit to scout (and look for possible kill opportunities) before the runes spawn. Then quickly take the bounty rune and ferry a Healing Salve immediately then go to thee mid lane to bodyblock the creeps (you can also ask your support to block it starting from the base to have a better block than your opposing laner.

EARLY-GAME

So we come here to the laning phase/early-game. Your goal here is to get all the farm you can get while avoiding ganks as much as possible which means hugging your tower a bit even it means you will miss some lasthits because you think there is a gank incoming or if you are the enemy supports are missing. But still look for kill opportunities but do not force one if you are not sure if you can kill him/her fast enough. But trust me, your Cold Snap will greatly punish enemy laners that will trade hits with you since even the slightest creep aggro can make use of this spell. Use your Forge Spirits to poke the enemy since it reduces the armor of the enemy which makes trading hits favorable for you. Assist other lanes with your Sun Strike (it is okay to steal the kills from your carry since you need the early boost than him/her since your supports should make him free farm most of the time) since you simply just can't gank because you are too slow at the moment which means you will lose a lot of experience which is very important for a hero a like Invoker. If you think it is safe to push, turn on the aura of your Ring of Aquila or Ring of Basilius and push the wave with your Forge Spirits. You can also use the Forge Spirits to deny runes for you since most of the time you will just sit on your lane until you have Drum of Endurance or Boots of Travel but always report if the enemy mid is missing so your teammates will be aware. Harass the enemy by clearing all the creeps fast then as soon as he takes creep damage use Cold Snap on him/her and hit her with your auto-attacks and your Forge Spirits which will cause large amounts of damage if you execute it correctly. But most of the time you will keep Forge Spirits and Suntrike in your two invoked skill slots because these are the spells you will use the most in the laning phase except if you take a value point of Wex early which can give you Alacrity but if you go Exort Quas heavy until level 8, go for the Forge Spirits+ Sun Strike but keep your Forge Spirits on the first slot since you don't to throw this spell away most of the time since this spell gives a lot of uses in the laning phase.

How to keep a skill that is in the second slot?
Lets say you have Sun Strike in the first slot and Forge Spirit on the second slot which means if you invoked another spell, it will move your Sun Strike to the second slot, replacing the Forge Spirits in the process. But lets say you still want the Forge Spirits to be in one of the two slots because you will keep it for future use. Here's the way how to do it.

Since your Sun Strike is in the first slot and Forge Spirits is in the second slot and you wan the Forge Spirits to stay, Press EEQR. This will cause the Forge Spirits and Sun Strike to change slots but it will not cause Invoke to go on cooldown so you can Invoke another spell immediately and remove the spell you want to remove which can save you a lot of time because if you didn't do it, you will lose the spell that you will use after invoking which will cause you spend 6 seconds to wait until Invoke is ready again. This is only applicable if your desired spell to keep is in the second slot. This trick is applicable throughout the game but this trick is kinda forgotten during the time you will have your Aghanim's Scepter.

MID-GAME

For me mid-game starts at 22-25 mins which is the time you want your Aghanim's Scepter to be ready. This is the time where you start to shine since with Aghanim's Scepter you can use spells more frequently. So it means this is the time you join teamfights more often but if the situtations come that the fight is heavily unfavorable for your team, taking objectives like towers or barracks is the better call since sometimes you just have to cut your losses. Invoker is a very good pusher, trust me since your spells clears creep waves easily and melts towers and you can also escape most ganks if you forced multiple TPs from the enemy team. Still look for opportunities so sniper heroes with Sun Strike since even your pushing, your Sun Strike can secure kills that otherwise your team can't kill.

LATE-GAME

In this stage of the game, you should spend more time fighting or joining clashes rather than pushing. Focus on nuking enemies that you want to eliminate quickly but be sure to save disables since that's what you are good at, giving crowd control for your team. But like I've said before, you can push if the situation is very unfavorable for your team. Be sure to save buyback since your spells if executed correctly, are often game winning for your team. Be sure to don't overextend, don't rush to enemies unless you are very sure that you will be safe and try land your spells on enemies from a safe place because no one wants to land an Ice Wall then suddenly get nuked to death because you stray to close to land the Ice Wall. And sometimes resetting a fight can be good which means backing up for a little bit after landing good spells and waiting for your important spells to be ready because late-game clashes should be planned carefully. Don't rush things up. If your team managed to win a teamfight, quickly teleport to a creep wave near an enemy tower and quickly push the lane. If there are no ally units near the enemy team's tower, push the lane hard. Also if all of the enemy team is missing and you have a feeling that Roshan is up, scout the Roshan pit by using Sun Strike on the pit to get information from there.

Combos

INVOKER HAS 10 POSSIBLE INVOKED SPELLS WHICH QUITE SYNERGIZES WITH ONE ANOTHER SO IF I WILL LIST ALL POSSIBLE SPELL COMBOS I CAN THINK OF, IT WILL BE VERY, VERY LONG AND I WOULD SUGGEST THAT IT IS UP TO YOU TO EXPERIMENT WHICH IS THE FUN THING WHEN PLAYING INVOKER. BUT HERE ARE SOME COMBOS FOR YOU GUYS TO START.

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This is main combo during the laning phase. Simply have use Forge Spirit and attack the target. Use Cold Snap before your projectile reaches the target and keep attacking him/her then use Sun Strike on the way he/she is walking into. Hit with more auto-attacks to finish the target if required.

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This is a good combo to use if you are pushing a tower then a single enemy TPs into the tower to defend it. Use the Chaos Meteor as soon as he finishes his/her TP to caught him/her off-guard the use Cold Snap before the meteor lands to prevent the enemy from avoiding the meteor then hit the enemy repeatedly to proc the Cold Snap mini-stun then use Deafening Blast to finish him/her out.

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This are used for initiation purposes but the difference is the first one (the Tornado into EMP into Cold Snap) is used for initiating on a single target and the 2nd one can be used on multiple targets.

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This combo is used for finishing heroes. Use Tornado to send the target flying then quickly press EEER then use Sun Strike under the Tornado (the timing is based on your current Quas level and quickly press QWE and press R as soon as the Invoke is off cooldown then hit the target with Deafening Blast as soon as he/she reaches the ground.

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This combo is good for solo pick-offs if you want to get kills without using your best skills but if you think this combo is not enough, you can use your big skills if you want.

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Matchups

In this section I will discuss some heroes you can meet in the midlane, what they can do, the threats they pose to you, and how to deal with them. Even Invoker can win most matchups, there are some heroes that can be tricky to lane against and can beat you in the lane. Take note that all of the things you can see here are only experienced based and some of this things may be right or wrong depending on your perception.. GUYS I'M JUST 4000+ MMR but I have faced 5K-6K players in my matches so I'm pretty confident of what I will say.

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This ginger ***** used to be the "queen of midlane" during the patch 6.84 but I think she quite not in the meta right now. But this hero can provide problems for you if you are not good with your positioning. Since you will use Forge Spirits most of the time, she can use this spirits to land good Shackleshots on you since most of the time your Forge Spirits will be beside you. And her Windrun can really messed up your day since it means your Cold Snap's effectiveness will be drastically reduced since she will be immune to physical damage which also allows her to towerdive like crazy if she will try to kill you. Once she gets her Aghanim's Scepter beware because she can just surprise you, tie you into a tree and pummel you with her Focus Fire.

How to deal with this girl:

Be aware of your positioning since her 2 skills punishes opponents with bad positioning. Her armor is very low as well as her health so your auto-attacks will punish her a lot but avoid trading hits since her Windrun allows her to hit you with chance of retaliating back to her. Buying a Linken's Sphere is very good since it ****s her combo. Bloodthorn allows you to pummel her and buying items like Shiva's Guard will help against her physical damage. Even though she is quite resilient against physical damage, she is very weak against Magical damage.

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Yes, Phantom Assassin mid is common nowadays because she doesn't need the amount of la***** a hard carry should have and her Stifling Dagger is a good harassing and ganking tool. She can deal crazy loads of damage even with only mediocre farm. If her luck is good, she can simply delete you with one critical strike from her Coup de Grace.

How to deal with this girl:

Since she is still a carry, deny her the farm she needs since she is quite lackluster without farm. Ask your supports to gank her in the lane to shut her down since she is very weak to spells. Her Blur makes her somewhat tanky which remedies her melee range but still try to harass her since she has low health and your auto-attacks could deal lots of damage if it lands on her. Buying a Magic Wand is very good against her since she will use her Stifling Dagger harass and farm. If she has a Black King Bar, try to avoid her during fights and focus on others heroes instead then rape her as soon her BKB wears off. Your Deafening Blast and Ice Wall are very good against her since she is melee and relies on right-click damage but if she goes out of control, buy items like Ethereal Blade, Shiva's Guard or Scythe of Vyse.

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This guy can be a thorn in the neck if left unchecked. Since he has a very short range, you can harass him pretty easily but he is quite durable against physical damage since he has a very high base armor even though his health is kinda lacking. Trading hits with him though is not good because his Overload-boosted attacks hurts a lot. Pushing a lane against this guy is hard since his Static Remnant and Overload-boosted auto-attacks can make short work on your creeps. Once he reaches level 6, his kill potential becomes very high so be aware of that. Late-game if he gets his items, he can just simply solo kill you if you are not careful and he is quite impossible to catch in the hands of a good storm player but he is very easy to catch if he runs out of mana.

How to deal with this guy.

Harass him but do not trade hits with him unless you are on the high ground or if you think you can win the trade. Buying Infused Raindrops is very good in the early-game since it negates a lot of his damage output. Respect his ability to do serious work if has the mana to do it so play defensively if he has sufficient mana but bully him as soon as he gets short on mana. Buying defensive items like Eul's Scepter of Divinity, Black King Bar or even a casual Ghost Scepter is good against him since even though his Overload is deals magical damage, it requires you to hit the target with your attacks which is not allowed if the enemy is in ethereal form. If he gets out of control and you want to lock him down, items like Scythe of Vyse and Bloodthorn are good against him.

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The mid hero list is not complete without Shadow Fiend. This guy is very,very,easy to gank since he has very low armor,health and no escape mechanisms but if this guy gets his farm, he can cause chaos in teamfights because of his heavy right-click damage, a negative armor aura and his massive AoE damage output. This hero farms very fast and can comeback even if you shut him down.

How to deal with this guy:

Since he relies on lasthits and denies to rack up his right-click damage through Necromastery, prevent him from getting those lasthits and denies which means an early point of Wex for Alacrity is a very good choice even though getting Quas for Forge Spirits is okay. But pushing the lane against him is very,very hard since his Shadowrazes easily clears creep waves which gives him better rune control than you but it is okay since you don't rely on runes that much and you can send Forge Spirits to deny his runes for you. Shutting him is very easy because the fact you can solo kill him very easily means that even a single support rotation can secure a kill but beware since he can fight back and kill your support or even you if the player is very good and managed to land his Shadowrazes on you. If you managed to shut him down, asking your team to gank him in the jungle is very good since good Shadow Fiend players stack their jungle to farm it in case he gets shut down or to earn more farm. He is very fragile which means your spells can easily cream him in the mid-late game but if he goes BKB, focus on his teammates instead and engage him as soon as his BKB wears off.

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This guy is a pain on the *** to deal with. His Laser and Heat-Seeking Missiles are so painful since you are a squishy hero but the thing you'll hate the most about this guy is his Laser ****s your Cold Snap since it guarantees you will miss all your attacks for a very long duration. He has a higher starting damage than you even with your Exort orbs on at early levels which means combined with laser, he can shut down your farm heavily. He is also a fast farmer which means he can leave you behind so fast if you didn't find a way to catch up in terms of farm. And his high amounts of burst damage can easily shred you in teamfights.

How to deal with this guy:

I will tell you now, this guy is just so hard to lane against. Ask a support to help you out to shut him down if you can't do that solo since delaying his Boots of Travel is crucial since without it, his item progression will be very SLOW. Try to push the lane because even though he is good at clearing creeps with his March of the Machines, he is not good at pushing towers because that's just not his thing. But if you somehow managed to get farm, killing him in the mid-game is easy provided that you catch him off-guard since he rarely invests on items to tank him up so even a simple Eul's combo is enough to kill him. Push towers as much as possible to give your team more map control so it will be easy for you to catch him out. Fighting him in the late-game is very hard since a well-fed Tinker with a Scythe of Vyse, Dagon, Aghanim's Scepter and other items can just obliterate you together with your team if your team can't catch him out. He is also good at defending high ground since with Aghanim's Scepter, his skills makes your pushing very hard since Laser can potentially blind your team, his Heat-Seeking Missiles can soften all of your team and his March of the Machines clears creep waves very fast. Buying a Black King Bar is a very good choice to do against his magic burst.

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If you somehow managed to face a good Meepo player in the midlane, you are in big trouble. At early levels he is very trash in lane since he is melee but he has a high starting health and quite respectable armor but as soon as he gets his ultimate, Divided We Stand, things will be very different, if you managed to shut him down, he can just leave the lane and farm up the jungle since his Poof and the Iron Talon item makes him a very fast jungler. Also keep in mind that because of his ultimate, he can reach his levels faster than you do since every Meepo can gain experience which means if he has very high level advantage on you, he can just basically eliminate you with his Blink Dagger Poof combo and if you managed to survive his burst, his Earthbind ability can basically perma-snare you and his Geostrike can slow you to a crawl while he and his clones beat you to death. He is very dangerous if he gets in his power spike and can basically end games once he manages to reach that powerspike.

How to deal with this guy:

Shut him very hard in the laning phase since delaying his powerspike helps your team a lot by giving your carry enough time to farm up his/her items. Just like Shadow Fiend, and Tinker, he will go jungling at one point in the early-game so ask your team to gank him and assist them with your Sun Strike. If the player is very good, just be aware if he is missing on the map because if he not jungling, he will look for kill opportunities since his burst is very high once he reaches his powerspike (I would say his powerspike time approximately starts at 20+mins when he finished farming his Aghanim's Scepter and Blink Dagger ). If your carry manages to get very fat, late-game against him is easier since he starts to fall off in the late-game but still be aware because is doesn't mean he can't do **** in the late-game because he can still kill you or your team's carry because he is a natural Scythe of Vyse carrier. Since he is not the type of hero who will buy Black King Bar, you can easily nuke or disable him with your spells. Your Deafening Blast and Ice Wall are exceptionally good against him.

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This guy even after receiving some nerf in the previous patches is still a force to reckoned with. This guy is kinda okay in laning but he does have a kinda passive early-game since he just sits in the lane and farms up just like you do. But if you let this guy farm up you will have some problems especially if he manages to snowball because that's what OD wants, to snowball because he is not the hero who can play from behind since OD likes to be ahead. Seriously there's not much to talk about this guys since for me an Invoker vs Outworld Devourer matchup in the midlane is heavily in favored to Invoker.

How to deal with this guy:

This guy is a solid laner because of his Astral Imprisonment which can cause you to miss lasthits and his Essence Aura gives him lots of mana sustain but take advantage of his lack of health sustain because even though he does have a very high starting armor and health, he doesn't have spells to sustain his health unlike you who have the Quas orb to keep your health up. His waveclear is somewhat okay because of the rework to Astral Imprisonment which also gives him a high damage spell to use. Trading hit with him is not okay if uses his Arcane Orb and gets a lot of Essence Aura procs since his Arcane Orb powered auto-attacks steal intelligence which causes you to lose mana and the fact you are an intelligence hero means you will lose right-click damage as well but harassing him is kinda easy since his auto-attack range is low. Ganking him is not an easy task though because his Astral Imprisonment buys so much time for him and can give his supports time to respond and can potentially remove a roaming support of yours out of the fight for a very long time. But if you managed to shut him down he is pretty screwed the whole game since he requires to be ahead since his ultimate requires him to have a very high intelligence gap to deal lots of damage. But if he manages to snowball, he can just delete your with just a few right clicks and delete your teammates with just one Sanity's Eclipse even though this skill is not good against you since Invoker's intelligence gain is higher than his. Buying a Black King Bar is very good against him since spell immunity screws him very hard.

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This guy is rarely seen in the game now but he is considered one of the heroes who can be a pain in the *** if played correctly. He can screw you up since you require a little bit of time to come online and he is the hero that works well with deathball push strats which means he can make the game end before you can do **** since his Nether Blast is a very pushing ability since it deals a lot of damage to creeps, has a very short cooldown and oh it affects towers too. But the main reason that this guy is a pain to deal with is his Nether Ward ****s you up so much since every spell you use,whether it is just invoking a spell or using a spell will cause this ward to hit you which causes high amounts of damage considering the fact that you spells does have a very high mana cost. He is also a Black King Bar carrier (sort of) which means he can just don't give a **** about your spells and his Life Drain gives his team a lot of sustain since he can just give health to his teammates and immediately suck your low health pool away.

How to deal with this guy:

This guy is a good laner because of his waveclear, good base damage and good backswing to contest lasthits but he does have a pathetic health pool so if he makes a mistake, he will die very quickly to you. Your Cold Snap is heavily countered by his Decrepify since it makes him invulnerable to your auto-attacks which is the main damage source of your Cold Snap. But his spells does have a high cast time so if you managed to catch him with his Decrepify on cooldown, he is screwed to your Cold Snap. In fights always eliminate his Nether Ward as soon as possible since this will hurt you a lot the longer the fight goes and quickly eliminate him since his Life Drain with Aghanim's Scepter is just so annoying. Also your Tornado applies a basic dispel which can be used on a Decrepified unit to dispel it.

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This chic is a very strong laner but you somewhat counter her so laning with her should be fine. Her Refraction allows her to shrug of harass and allows her to lasthit and deny like a god (Refraction gives bonus even when denying a unit but it will not cause a Refraction charge to be spent in the process) and her Psi Blades makes up for her short range which she can use to harass you by simply hitting any creep that is in line with you. Nothing much to say, her snowballing potential is very high once she reach her powerspike (after Blink Dagger + Desolator )but she requires a very good start to shine.

How to deal with this girl:

Harass her a lot since her almost non-existent range allows you to harass her with no worries and also your Forge Spirits can assist you remove her Refraction charges. But be aware of your positioning since she punishes bad positioning with her Psi Blades. Fighting her in the mid-game is somewhat easy. Just keep your distance since once she reaches you she can just remove you in the fight with just 2-3 hits if she is well-fed. She is also a Black King Bar carrier so keep that in mind. But your best weapon against her is your Ice Wall since this removes her Refraction charges, kites her (since she is almost like a melee hero) and without her Refraction, she is very easy to kill.

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Seriously this thing is just very annoying in the right hands (even just thinking of what he can do in the right hands annoys me). This things does have a very decent waveclear, good rune control, and good ganking capabilities which are the things you are lacking. The ability of this thing to dance around your team while disabling/silencing or nuking you is just so annoying. But even just a single mistake can spell death to this thing.

How to deal with this thing:

In the laning phase, try to dodge the Illusory Orb which is quite hard to do since you are very slow which means buying Infused Raindrops is your best bet. Trading hits with this thing is just so hard to do since Phase Shift allows this thing to harass you and then dodge your auto-attacks which gives this thing high outplay potential. This thing does also have a very good right-click damage and good attack animation which means "don't be cocky and don't get outharassed" and even with just mediocre farm (just a Blink Dagger ), this thing can do some serious work. So shutting down this fairy dragon is a must which means delaying its Blink Dagger. Silences and disables screw this ***** so buying a Bloodthorn or even a Scythe of Vyse is a good choice. Buying a Eul's Scepter of Divinity also is a good choice to deal with Waning Rift and Dream Coil. Try to eliminate this thing immediately because allowing this thing to dance around the fight is the worst idea you can ever think of.

Closing

SO THATS ALL FOLKS!!! THAT IS MY Invoker GUIDE. I HOPE THIS GUIDE WILL HELP YOU IN USING Invoker. IF THERE ARE WRONG CONTENT, SUGGESTIONS, GRAMMATICAL ERRORS, CORRECTIONS ETC. PLEASE COMMENT DOWN BELOW TO LET ME KNOW. IF YOU THINK THIS GUIDE HELPED YOU OUT, PLEASE PUT A THUMBS UP SINCE THAT WILL HELP ME A LOT BECAUSE IN THAT WAY I CAN KNOW THAT MY GUIDES ARE HELPING PEOPLE OUT. OH BTW HERE ARE SOME GOOD Invoker PLAYERS (I SUGGEST YOU WATCH THEIR GAMEPLAY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE HERO) TO GIVE A YOU SOMETHING TO STUDY.


Newbee.Sccc

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Liquid.Miracle-

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OG.Ana

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THIS IS GIL BOT SIGNING OUT! BYE AND GOODLUCK IN YOUR FUTURE DOTA 2 GAMES! :) ^_^[/color]