DOTAFire is a community that lives to help every Dota 2 player take their game to the next level by having open access to all our tools and resources. Please consider supporting us by whitelisting us in your ad blocker!
Want to support DOTAFire with an ad-free experience? You can support us ad-free for less than $1 a month!
Go Ad-Free
Blades of Attack
Iron Branch
Tango
Phase Boots
Bottle
Drum of Endurance
Aghanim's Scepter
Force Staff
Eul's Scepter of Divinity
Scythe of Vyse
Linken's Sphere
Daedalus
Blink Dagger
Orchid Malevolence
|
|
1 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 23 | 24 | 25 |  |
|
5 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 22 |  |
|
3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 20 |  |
|
2 | 7 | 12 | 17 |  |
|
A good Invoker is, at least the majority of the time, judged by how accurately and quickly he can invoke the correct spell for the correct situation, as well as how well an invoker can string spells together to cause the most damage and the most benefit to their team. It would be a very good idea to learn and master ALL of the spells invoker has to offer. In this guide I will focus mainly on the Exort, Quas Early Frist Blood and Sunstrike positioning, and Midgame/Late game Stomp using your spells appropriately as well as good times to use the listed items and what time on the in game clock you should have them by. I will list the commands of invokers spells and the subsequent keys needed to invoke such spells, along with a quick explanation of what they do, and good situations they can be used in.
REMEMBER - Invoker Should, at LEAST 95% of the time be mid, if you have a mid hero already picked for your team I would not suggest running this build, i would suggest running a hero that is BENEFICIAL towards your teams goal, which is of course, winning. All spells and explanations as well as item explanations are going to be implying that you ARE mid.
QWE - Deafening Blast - This spell unleashes a mighty sonic wave in front of him, dealing damage to any enemy unit it collides 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. This means Snare, Damage AND Disarm, does it get any better? Why yes, yes it does, when used in conjunction with your Chaos Meteor, well, we will get to that shortly.
QQQ - Cold Snap - This spell will stun enemies as they are attacked or a spell/ability deals damage to them, and the attack lands on its target, this means the low ground attacking the high ground will sometimes miss its target, and will NOT activate cold snap. Try to cold snap people AS your projectile flies through the air at them, cold snap is INSTANT your ranged projectile is NOT.
QQW - Ghost Walk - This spell makes you invisible to enemies without invisibility tracking, this means no dust, wards or gem it also has a slow aura that effects any enemy or neutral that is within a radius of the Invoker. This is a great get away skill and a staple/explanation as to why invoker is alot of the time ungankable and quite annoying at times. This spells main purpose is to, of course, get away from danger, however it can be used to slow enemies once wex is properly leveled up and you gain speed, this guide, for at least early and mid game will focus on this ability being a GET AWAY mechanism, it can be used as a slow in conjunction with the guide but it will not be very effective.
QQE - Ice wall - This spell puts up a line of ice that slows enemies movement speed and attack speed by an overwhelming amount, it can be used in conjunction with force staff or blink dagger, to deliver a sharp blow to retreating enemy heroes making it impossible to run away.
WWW - EMP - This spell has a Delay based off of how many points you currently have in Wex its damage and mana drain is also entirely based off of Wex. This is another Wex spell that is not entirely useful to us using this build till later on in the game, and depending on how quickly you level.
WWQ - Tornado - This spell unleashes a fast moving tornado that picks up enemy units in its path, its disable is based on the amount of points in Quas that you have and its damage is based on Wex and Quas, This and Ghost walk is why we get a Point in Wex at lvl 5, We do not use this spell in order to deal damage, we use this spell as a set up for our Chaos Meteor or Sunstrike, We will get to that in a little while.
WWE - Alacrity - This spell can be used on YOU or your ALLY, This spell increases your attack speed based on your level of Wex and your attack Damage based on your level of Exort, this spell, mid and late game makes invoker basically have a free Hyper Stone and a free Relic, it is a spell that should be used very often because of its short cool down and can be used to farm ancients very quickly, as well as give an Ally a leg up in a fight, if they are a better target than yourself for the spell. (IE PA)
EEE - Sunstrike - This spell 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. One of your many staples for this build, it is used to pick up first blood, it is used as a finisher, it is used in conjunction with Tornado if timed correctly. The thing about sunstrike is its delay time it has a 1.7 second delay from when you cast it, to when it hits the enemy (or ground), You do not want to cast this spell if an enemy is engulfed in creeps, or is surrounded, you want to catch fleeing or enemies that are alone with this if you are granted vision, you can also check Roshan with this spell, although wards should suffice if you have a competent team.
EEQ - Forge Spirits - This is another staple, this is a reason why this build is so successful, and this is why its so important to get 4 points in Quas and Exort, This spell forges a spirit embodying the strength of fire and fortitude of ice. Damage, health, and armor are based on the level of Exort while attack range, mana, and duration are based on the level of Quas. The elemental's scorching attack is capable of melting the armor of enemy heroes. If both Quas and Exort are level 4 or higher, Invoker will create two spirits instead of one. The explanation of the spell is enough to get your pants wet, but when used in conjunction with Cold Snap and Stunstrike, my god, you can almost hear the sounds of people screaming NOOB and WTF because they have been owned so hard.
EEW - Chaos Meteor - This is the final staple that holds your Mid and late game in place, this spell 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. You hear that? a giant meteor, and its yours to do whatever you like with it, but, I'm here for a reason right? Well, Read into the next couple of chapters to see exactly which combinations to use and which to avoid.
This tiny Chapter is simply because its a toss up between Quas at lvl 8 or Quas at lvl 9, IT IS UP TO YOUR OWN DISCRETION If you want more damage and pushing power go 4 Exort quickly, if you are taking dmg and need extra regeneration go Quas at 8, Either way you build up to 4 Quas and 4 Exort in order to get your dual forge spirits.
Another Note: The same thing goes for the Wex, Have 5 or 6 points in Exort, and 4 in Quas, then choose When to put Wex in your combo, Typically i keep 5 or 6 in Exort, 4 in Quas 1 in Wex then build up to 4 in Wex for Tornado distance and Movement Speed Bonus, This could be a Jack of all trades build EASILY, However the fact that you start with dual forge spirits opens up the opportunity for more theory crafting while in your current game, this is why I find this kind of build fun and interesting, it never completely limits you.
As Invoker you want the middle lane. This lane is your go to lane, and you want to purchase the beginning game items, Which are Blades of attack, a GG branch and Tangos. You begin with Quas, and have 3 quas orbs up while heading to your lane.
It is very important to try to stay at your inner middle tower to block 1st wave creep movement so that you have the high ground as the game begins, and allow a top laner to check top rune. After the lane is established and you have control from minute 1 using the high ground it is always good to check runes on every TWO MINUTE INTERVAL, 2 minutes in, 4 minutes, 6 minutes and so on. As I play invoker I have learned that at level two with invoke you should immediately Invoke Cold Snap, before level 3, in case your opponent gets greedy and decides to try for an early first blood, REMEMBER : Creeps AUTOMATICALLY aggro if you attack an enemy hero or an enemy hero attacks you, if an enemy hero attacks you you can choose to cold snap the enemy while creeps attack him to activate cold snap and deal a lot of damage and maybe even send him back to base.
When you get around lvl 4 you want to have Exort orbs up at all times unless you are trying to recover against a failed gank or have made bad decisions on harassing. try for a first blood, try to catch your enemy off guard or while creeps are attacking him and you have the high ground, or he gets pugnacious and attacks you and cold snap him, chase him till he has a small amount of health and while he is retreating invoke sunstrike (you should have 2 points in exort by now and finish him with a Sunstrike in the path of his retreat. This does NOT always work, but many people dont expect the coldsnap into a sunstrike combo, it often lands you first blood and a quick phase boots. Try to get phase fast and then a bottle immediately after so you can control runes better, ALWAYS CHECK FOR RUNES EVEN WITHOUT BOTTLE, deny enemy runes = an easier middle control for you.
At lvl 7 you should be able to invoke two spells, keep forge spirits on your "F" key and cold snap on your "D" key to keep invoke active so you arent cycling through so many spells, you are mana dependent for the first 15 or so minutes, this technique is used so you can summon forge spirits, and then be able to quickly switch from them (because they are already summoned) or continue to spawn forge spirit while not using your invoke which is still on a very long cool down timer, and still have cold snap in your arsenal ready to be used. If you choose to gank a lane remember to have WEX active while moving from your middle and to use phase boots to travel from lane to lane, while keeping cold snap on your bar and a forge spirit active, sunstrike a retreating enemy by placing sunstrike about 2 real life inches ahead of where you predict they are heading. Remember to also use forge spirits to help with Creep kills, their little extra damage output could mean a big difference if you arent with invokers normal attack damage and speed.
While i am going on about level 7 there is a combo that works also on a low health enemy, The Tornado Sunstrike combo, Have tornado invoked and Sunstrike invoked, Send tornado onto an enemy (even though its a short range, you can land it, and Sunstrike right where they are, if you do it really quickly the sunstrike will land and you will secure the kill, if it doesnt kill the enemy you can always invoke a quick cold snap and finish the enemy off, however a safer gank would be the forge spirit Cold snap combo. The lvl 1 Wex tornado Sunstrike combo should only be used if you have excellent timing and have a lot of experience with the distance that tornado travels and sunstrike delay.
Remember that creep score is EVERYTHING in your lane, the faster you have your basic items (Phase boots, Bottle, Drums) The quicker you can get to your scepter, which is your item staple as invoker, ALWAYS remember to check enemy mid hero items to make sure you dont try to nuke them if they have a heal salve unless you are certain that they are going to die, and remember if you are going to engage a enemy to eat a tango first, the regen ALWAYS helps and it may even save your life.
A reminder in laning phase, ALWAYS pay attention to other lanes and pay attention when you see on your mini map your allies fighting an enemy, because if the enemy retreats they forget about your sunstrike and usually autowalk away from the conflict, its a perfect chance to pick up a few extra hundred gold which is always helpful.
Final thought on laning phase, Try to have your Phase boots, Drums of Endurance and Bottle all before the 12 minute mark even if you are unable to get first blood or any sunstrike kills/ganks. This concludes the basic idea of the beginning of your invoker career mid.
So, you've survived Early game and have moved onto mid game, you are lvl 12 and feel the power of invoker coursing through your veins, its time to kill some enemies eh?
Ok, so you've moved onto team fights and upgraded your Exort + Quas and should have begun your Scepter, At this time you can summon two forge spirits at a time, and with their armor melt ability should have an advantage towards armored and squishy enemies alike, as well as killing creep waves easily, and subsequently pushing easily, now this is where you either choose to take mid out quickly (if it isnt already dead) by summoning forge spirits, and having Alacrity ready pushing the wave down and hitting the tower for a load of damage, or ganking a lane, sticking with the lane and freeing up one or two allies from their lane by killing that tower and allowing them to help push a different tower down. Either way, its a huge leg up on your opponent and it really is up to your discretion on what to do here, once a tower goes down and your allies free up to form a ganking party, or group up to push another tower down you have even more options. I am going to put fight initiations in a different section.
By the end of mid game you should have a nice chunk of cs (possibly 100+ before or at 25 mins) and maybe bagged yourself a nice set of kills, depending on enemy vulnerability and general skill and understanding of how invoker works. This should have gotten you your scepter, which helps immensely with invoks because it sets the cool down to 4 seconds (with lvl 3 invoke, or 2 seconds with lvl 4 invoke) this is the part of the game where invoker becomes an absolute horror for your enemies. By 25 minutes it is typical and normal to have Scepter, if you do not have Scepter by 30 minutes you will either need to evaluate your last hitting skills, or you may just be having a bad game, either way, this is not a good thing, the longer it takes to get this all important item the more peril you will be in Late game.
So, You're mid game and need to know how to initiate a gank or a team fight. A very easy way to initiate a team fight is to wait for an enemy to get out of position and just simply cold snap them and use your forge spirits as well as your own exort juiced up attacks to rip them to shreds. However, a better way to deal more damage and have the same effect is to Tornado through the front lines of the enemy and immediately drop a Chaos Meteor. This should be done so that Forge Spirits are already summoned and you have Tornado Invoked and your Chaos Meteor Invoked. after both spells are popped you should immediately invoke QWE, which is deafening blast and immediately toss it out (even if enemies are still up in the air, because when the blast actually arrives to them it will connect) This will cause Tornado damage, Meteor damage and Blast damage, as well as causing them to be ignited. If you have a scepter and your invokes already up again you have the option to invoke a quick cold snap and cold snap one enemy (your Chaos Meteor WILL deal damage to cause cold snap to take effect) then focus the enemy down, AND once the enemy dies you have another opportunity to invoke sunstrike and try to land a headshot and take out two enemies, this Tornado, Meteor, Deafening blast, Cold snap combo usually is the best initiator to use, it can even be used on a single enemy, just remember Chaos Meteor is on a very long cool down, so do not use it if you know a team fight may be coming up, or if you do not currently have map control and you are just wandering. If you are fighting a Single Target Cold snap Forge spirit combo and a sunstrike to finish should be enough to kill a single target, if you are fast enough tossing in an Alacrity right as the enemy suffers from cold snap due to your forge spirits attacking can be enough to pop it and still have the enemy in range, but sometimes this is not the case, Remember Alacrity takes a second to cast on yourself and may allow for the enemy to run out of your range.
So now its getting good, you have your scepter, drums, bottle Force staff and you're starting a Luxury item, But which one do you get? Well, I'll try to help with that.
Eules Scepter - Try to purchase this if you see a lot of enemies with CC, Pugna for one, countering ethereal with it could be helpful, or popping it to quickly avoid a gank and invoking your QQW (Ghost walk) to run away is useful, however this item is very situational, and i almost never get this item, I placed it here because it CAN be used by this build, and perhaps readers can find a better use for it.
Guinsoos (Scythe of Vyse) - Useful for its obvious use, Turn somebody into a chicken and laugh as they run away from you and all of your friends, however its real use comes in to play when using it on people with get away mechanisms (Storm spirit, Anti Mage etc) and High priority DPS targets (Ursa etc) of course it also helps that you get a stationary target and one that cant run from a Chaos Meteor Or well placed Sunstrike. Couple this with your force staff and the enemy is in some trouble, it is good to also mention that this item gives you a TON of mana, a good item to get AFTER your scepter.
Linkens Sphere - Useful in the sense that Night Stalker or Blood seeker are coming at you and they try to silence, this item could be a very pretty paperweight unless used against the proper match up. It also grants a lot of mana, however do not get it just because of this fact, evaluate your enemies and pick it if it is absolutely essential.
Daedalus - Sometimes you do need to take on the complete carry role, you are the only one getting kills, you need to boost your damage above that of the normal triple exort invoker, Paired with your Alacrity/cold snap this item makes you a force to be reckoned with, but typically your spells do that anyway, this item is for the person who is having no trouble farming, and needs that extra damage increase, this is typically for very late game, like I've said, typically your Invoker spells are enough to deal with alot of the threats if your team is half way decent. This item will make you a 1 man army, but unfortunately also the target of a lot of enemy attention.
Blink Dagger - Get this, Couple it with Force Staff, make Blink Staff Babies, but seriously, its good for getting into position to drop a Wall Of Ice on an enemy after they are trying to retreat, it opens the possibility up for a lot more combinations and is usually the item i would go in Invoker if i see no immediate threat and feel i can use the extra speed and surprises it grants.
Orchard Malevolence - Ahh, this beauty right here, This is a very useful item, and may actually be the only real late game item I can think of I put it in this section only because it is not always a good choice vs some teams, but this may be their Invoker top late game pick, and for good reason, it boosts your magic damage, silences enemies and gives you a NICE chunk of mana regeneration, definitely something to consider strongly if you see an enemy team composition that doesn't require any of the other situationals.
And don't say its off, Cuz its ONNN
You're at least lvl 17, you have your set of skills you require to win this game, along with a competent team. Initiate with Tornado, Follow up with Chaos Meteor and Throw in EMP's At this point if you need enemy Mana burned. Just do it. It wont burn as much as a Wex Quas build but it may just burn enough to give you the edge. However, EMP isnt really required this far in, and you may as well stick with what you know and what you know is how to burn, freeze and throw giant Meteors on peoples faces, so do that, initiate correctly and Single target Down people with your Cold snap and your allies will be praising you by the end of the match.
Final thoughts - A lot of this guide is a mess, and I wrote it very quickly, I will be updating it with visual representations of what I am talking about in text as well as updating my guide as I play more Invoker. I AM NOT AN INVOKER PRO I play invoker and enjoy playing him and thought I'de write down a fun Invoker build that others can enjoy. Remember, Have fun guys.
Thank You for reading, and if you read the guide, Let me know what you think, I do currently run this build and am open to other thoughts about how to improve or on a skill combo that I'm not aware of or haven't thought of. Also, I am aware of spelling errors haha.
DOTAFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new hero, or fine tune your favorite DotA hero’s build and strategy.
Copyright © 2019 DOTAFire | All Rights Reserved
Quick Comment (8) View Comments
You need to log in before commenting.