Invoker Guide

Gameplay

Playstyle
Invoker   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Invoker 16 + 2.2 14 + 1.9 16 + 4 Level Base is one of the most difficult to learn heroes in the game, but also one of the most flexible and powerful casters. As such, his skill floor is not impossibly high, be that as it may, his skill ceiling is almost unparalleled, and thus he takes significant amounts of practice in order to learn. Because of his need for quick levels and gold, he is usually played as a mid hero. Due to Invoker`s heavy level requirement in order to be effective, it is generally advised to focus on leveling two orbs and getting a value point in the third, rather than trying to level all three equally. While Invoker can be more flexible if he can cast strong spells in all categories, the lack of specialization also limits his potency in areas where his team might need him to be strong. Invoker can only truly reach his full strength at level 25, and as such he needs to be able to effectively contribute to teamfights before reaching that point.
Pros	Cons
Extremely versatile. Numerous disables. Deadly magic combos. Can push quite well. Good solo killing ability with Quas-Exort.	Steep learning curve. Requires significant early farm to be effective. Not very good at farming compared to other cores. Vulnerable to silence Play Silence! Silence is a status effect that prevents those affected from using active hero abilities for the duration of the silence. It can be useful when ganking a hero with a blink or invisibility .

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Counters   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Play “Many hands make light work.” This article is badly written or needs

Equipment   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     v • d • e Invoker Equipment (collapse sets)Sets Adornings of the Quas Precor Set Cabalist of

Gear   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     This is a list of cosmetic items that reflects Invoker s design aesthetics.

Responses   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     v • d • e  Voice responses Hero responses Abaddon Alchemist Ancient Apparition Anti-Mage Arc Warden Axe Bane

Sounds   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     v • d • e  Dota 2 Sounds Hero Sounds Abaddon Alchemist Ancient Apparition Anti-Mage Arc Warden Axe

Lore   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Invoker In its earliest, and some would say most potent form, magic

Old Abilities   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs       6.18 and after   Before 6.18 (Old Invoker)     EMP

Changelogs   Hero   Strategy   Counters   Equipment   Gear   Responses   Sounds   Lore   Old Abilities   Changelogs     Contents 1 Version history 2 Patch history Version history edit] Version Description

Quas + Wex

This build primarily focuses on bringing disables and crowd control to the table at the cost of striking power. Invokers using this build focus on casting EMP and Tornado in teamfights in order to disrupt the enemy and destroy their ability to cast spells, while using Cold Snap for single-target disable. It also specializes in ganking, allowing players to use Ghost Walk to roam and Cold Snap and Ice Wall for single-target disable. With a value point in Exort, Invoker can also utilize Alacrity to boost the attack speed of himself or an ally, and use Deafening Blast for additional disable. This build is usually best combined with teammates who already have damage, but are lacking crowd control such as Zeus, Ursa, Leshrac, and many others. A disadvantage to this build is usually the lack of farm Invoker usually gets compared to Quas-Exort builds.

Exort + Quas

This build improves Invoker`s nuking and disable potential, but leaves him lacking in reach. The main objective was to get to level 8 having 4 points in both Quas and Exort to gain access to two Forge Spirits, however since the 7.00 update this is no longer possible as the addition of another Forge Spirit is a talent option at level 15, be that as it may, It`s still good to have several points in Quas early in the game to increase Cold Snap damage, Ice wall slow, and overall @@@#@@@HP(hp.com)###@### regen from active instances to sustain yourself during the laning stage. Once level 15, Two Forge Spirits, in combination with Cold Snap, can inflict tremendous amounts of damage on a single target, which can get you kills against lone enemies without escape abilities. Invoker can also use Sun Strike, Chaos Meteor and Deafening Blast to great effect, inflicting large amounts of Magical and Pure damage on enemies. This build is normally suited best against melee-heavy lineups, or lineups that have many heroes that need to be closer to their opponents. It can also be played as a more farming oriented build, with use of forge spirits and perhaps alacrity (if you have one value point in Wex) to push waves and gain farm, and relocating to different areas on the map with Boots of Travel. This works quite well because Forge Spirits can kill one camp (or give extra damage),while Invoker pushes creep waves with Alacrity. Be that as it may, Invoker can also kill solo heroes and assist in teamfights, especially if he gets Aghanims Scepter within 15-26 minutes of the game. However the main focus of Quas-Exort in a game usually is to get enough farm for quite a number of items (by farming, getting solo kills and participating in teamfights), and also pushing around the map, relieving pressure from other teammates perhaps in teamfights. You don`t often see many pro players going for an early win with Quas-Exort Invoker (if they wanted an early win, they usually would go for Quas-Wex for the added teamfight ability). A disadvantage of this build is that it requires Invoker to be very good at farming, overall map awareness, team fighting ability, and generally requires higher skill than Quas-Wex. It isn`t a very good build either if the other team has a very early oriented lineup, however it doesn`t mean it`s a bad build early game as Invoker has Sunstrike to assist lanes and Forge Spirits and Cold Snap (situationally Meteor and Deafening Blast) to use in fights.

Probably the most used in the competitive scene.

Wex + Exort

This build gives Invoker a combination of striking power and reach, but leaves him unable to disable opponents effectively and results in a comparatively frail caster due to lack of Quas. Invoker should generally focus on nuking targets or providing utility via Alacrity, which can greatly increase the right-clicking power of an ally or Invoker himself. This build gives Invoker the ability to deal large amounts of damage with Sun Strike, Chaos Meteor and Deafening Blast, as well as a measure of crowd control via EMP and a long-reaching Tornado. This ability build is most effective against heroes that are excellent at kiting their enemies, such as Drow Ranger and Sniper. Be that as it may, it is also extremely potent if your allies have strong initiators such as Clockwerk, Jakiro, and Faceless Void. Disadvantages are that it provides next to no control at all, needing other allies to keep enemy heroes in place. Also Invoker isn`t really designed to be a right click hero, he is more of a hero that uses powerful spells to change the tide of a fight.

Relatively rare seen in the competitive scene.

Ability Builds

Talents

Hero Talents   Main   Table of Gained Bonuses     The Talent Selection interface. Talents are traits unique to each hero. They are chosen every 5th level starting at level 10, offering a permanent choice between
-18s Tornado Cooldown	25	AoE Deafening Blast
+35 Attack Speed	20	+7 All Stats
+30% XP Gain	15	+1 Forge Spirit Summoned
+125 Health	10	+15 Damage

Notes:

• The attack damage is added as bonus attack damage, and therefore does not benefit illusions.
• Upgrading health increases maximum health capacity and keeps the current health percentage.

General

• Quas Exort Invoker needs lots of farm. Getting an early Boots of Travel to get faster around the map and kill creeps is always a good thing. Usually followed by Drums of Endurance, Blink Dagger or Force Staff and Aghanims Scepter.

• Invoker is highly dependent on levels to make his spells effective.
• Many of Invoker`s spells are linear AoE effects, which can be devastating in chokepoints.
• Many of Invoker`s spells have strong synergy with each other. Understanding how to combo them is key to playing Invoker well.
• All of Invoker`s spells have fairly long cooldowns. If your spells are on cooldown and there is a fight, try to push towers to make enemies teleport back to their base and then teleport back yourself.
• Preparing the right orbs before an engagement makes it easier to chain spell combos.
• It is fairly easy to say, but using each spell and to its best ability rather than just spamming them (unless you`re doing combos) can often separate good and amazing Invoker players.
• A build that some pro players use is Boots of Speed, Ring of Aquila, (optionally Midas) Boots of Travel/Drums of Endurance (can be both or swapped around), Blink Dagger and Aghanims Scepter at around the 22-27th minute mark.

Quas

• Active Quas orbs gives health regeneration, which is especially useful for staying in lane.
• Often the last orb to be maxed as it doesn`t provide much for Invoker other than health regen.

Wex

• Active Wex orbs increase Invoker`s attack speed, and more importantly movement speed DPS multiplier when chasing Minimum (pursuer MS / target MS) Ratio for Maximum Chase DPS Movement speed (sometimes abbreviated as move speed or MS) is the speed at which a unit can move. Movement speed which can be useful for chasing down enemies.

Exort

• Active Exort orbs gives damage Damage is any means by which unit s current health can be reduced. Heroes, creeps, ancients, Roshan and fountains are all capable of dealing damage. Contents 1 Damage sources 1.1 Attack damage 1.2 Spell damage 2 , therefore players often level up Exort first to make last-hitting easier in lane.

Invoke

• Invoke is a powerful spell which allows Invoker to forge spells in a short duration of 6 second and at higher levels, possessing Aghanim`s Scepter gives the advantage of invoking spells in a time span of 2 seconds.
• Whenever a new spell is Invoked, the oldest of his two currently Invoked spells is removed from selection. Beware of which spell combinations you wish to execute, and queue them through Invoke accordingly.
• The above can be facilitated more easily by switching the spell orders as needed. If the oldest currently Invoked spell is Invoked, it will swap positions with the newest one without putting Invoke on cooldown, allowing Invoker to immediately queue another spell for Invoke. This can be crucial for quickly ordering spell combinations if a required spell for that combo is already the oldest Invoked spell.
• Careful not invoke a spell that`s still on cooldown, as this will waste Invoke`s cooldown. Since the ability icon disappears after being replaced, players will have to rely on instinct and experience to know whether or not a spell is on cooldown.
• If you want to cast three spells in quick succession, it can help to have the orbs for the third spell prepared before casting the other two. This allows you to cast your first two spells and then Invoke the third immediately once the oldest Invoked spell is on cooldown. This can let you cast nuke-heavy combos such as Sun Strike + Chaos Meteor + Deafening Blast, as the first two spells have delays that allow you to queue up the third so that you can land all three on a target simultaneously.
• With an Aghanim`s Scepter   Item   Upgraded Abilities   Old Abilities   Lore   Changelogs     Aghanim s Scepter The scepter of a wizard with demigod-like powers. Cost4200 Bought FromCaster Passive Ultimate Upgrade Bonus +10 Strength+10 Agility+10 Intelligence+175 , it is possible to Invoke spells every two seconds. If your reflexes are good enough, you can barrage the enemy with spells as quickly as you can queue them up. Be that as it may, this is only truly useful in the late-game once all of your orbs have been leveled up enough for their associated spells to be truly potent.

Cold Snap

• Cold Snap has strong utility in the early and mid-game, however it decreases in effectiveness later in the game.
• Using Cold Snap on an low armor enemy under attack by creeps Creeps are basic units in Dota 2. Every unit which is not a hero, building, ward or courier is considered a creep. Creeps can belong to either faction, be neutral, or be player-controlled units. Unlike will cause that enemy to be stunlocked from creep attacks.
• Cold Snap stuns upon cast, and has a long 1000 range (Invoker`s auto attack range is 600). This is useful for interrupted channeled spells and items.
• Cold Snap is very strong when combined with any spell that deals damage over time, as each small damage instance procs the mini-stun and damage.
• Forge Spirits have strong synergy with Cold Snap, as each spirit`s individual attacks (as well as your own) can proc the mini-stun, and both spells are based on Quas. When attacking a target afflicted with Cold Snap, try to stagger the Forge Spirits so that they attack at different intervals, in order to increase the chances of proccing the mini-stun.
• Cold Snap can greatly impede the attack and cast animations of enemy players, preventing them from retaliating for the duration of the debuff.
  • A unit under the effect of Cold Snap cannot cast spells with a cast time   Cast Animation   Cast Point   Cast Backswing     Every unit has unique cast animations for each of their spells. The cast animation of a spell is enacted as soon as a target higher than/cannot perform attacks with an attack time The frequency with which units attack is measured in attack speed. A unit s attack speed can be modified by items, agility, abilities, and auras. Contents 1 Base attack time 2 Attack speed representation 3 Attack higher than 0.37/0.34/0.31/0.29/0.26/0.23/0.20(/0.17) seconds, assuming Cold Snap always triggers exactly when off cooldown.
• Cold Snap is hard countered by abilities like Aphotic Shield, Refraction, and Living Armor.

Ghost Walk

• While using Ghost Walk, Invoker`s footprints can be seen when he is close to an enemy. This will reveal his presence to the other team.
• Ghost Walk can be used as an escape ability, or to sneak up for a gank.
• Without a few levels in Wex, Invoker is very slow while using Ghost Walk.
  • At least 4 levels of Wex in order to negate the movement penalty.
  • Consider shifting to three Wex orbs before going invisible to offset the movement penalty.
• With higher levels of Wex, Invoker is faster than normal with Ghost Walk, allowing him to chase down or ambush enemies.
• Using any items or queuing any orbs will break invisibility. As such, if the goal is to run away, do not change orbs or activate Phase Boots, as doing either instantly reveals Invoker.
• Ghost Walk can also be used as a roaming and ganking spell, as its extremely long duration relative to the spell`s short cooldown allows Invoker to remain invisible indefinitely with enough mana.
  • With enough levels in Wex, Invoker can maintain up to a 61% movement speed bonus with Ghost Walk (up to 40% from the spell, and a maximum of 21% from three active Wex orbs), making him extremely fast and able to move around the map quickly.

Ice Wall

• Ice Wall is a strong slow and damage-over-time spell that works best if the enemy is forced to stand in a particular area. The slow and wall duration is based on Quas, while the damage over time is based on Exort.
• The wall is placed perpendicularly in front of him upon casting.
• Placing Ice Wall in the middle of a teamfight can greatly inhibit the positioning and mobility of enemy heroes should they decide to commit to battle. The tremendous slow can easily trap any hero who does not have spell immunity or a Haste buff, giving Invoker`s team a powerful edge.
• Ice Wall is best used as a disengagement spell, as it drastically slows chasing enemies and give teammates time to escape and its wide area prevents enemy players from easily getting around it to avoid the slow. It can also be used against solo enemies attempting to escape, as it can lock them down in position for casting your other spells.
• Cold Snap has strong synergy with this spell, as both spells are based primarily on Quas. Using Cold Snap on an opponent who is already in the wall causes them to take the mini-stun every second and prevent them from moving outside of the damage and slow zone, effectively pinning them in place.

EMP

• Due to its delay, EMP can be hard to land on enemies. Be that as it may, its long cast range and wide effect radius also make it difficult to avoid. When attempting to cast EMP on enemy heroes, it is best to hit them with a set-up spell first.
• Tornado has the strongest synergy with EMP since it can disable multiple enemy heroes for up to 2.9 seconds, and both spells are based on Wex. Hitting the enemy team with a Tornado while simultaneously deploying EMP can virtually guarantee connecting the spell.
• While it loses much of its potency in the late game due to mana pools getting larger, EMP can still greatly disrupt enemies at all stages of the game. Destroying the mana on low-intelligence heroes, particularly strength and agility casters, can render them impotent in the early- and mid-game, while doing so in the late-game can hinder an enemy carry`s ability to cast spells (such as Phantom Strike or God`s Strength) or use item abilities that require mana (such as Abyssal Blade   Item   Lore   Changelogs     Abyssal Blade The lost blade of the Commander of the Abyss, this edge cuts into an enemy s soul. Cost6400 (1550) Bought FromWeapons Active Overwhelm Passive Bash, Damage ).
• Experienced players will reserve their Arcane Boots   Item   Changelogs     Arcane BootsL Magi equipped with these boots are valued in battle. Cost1300 Bought FromSupport Active Replenish Mana Bonus +250 Mana+50 Movement speed Disassemble? Yes Alert allies? Yes Recipe The to recharge their mana right after being hit, so don`t assume an EMP will disable them for good.