Dota 2 Invoker Guide : Best guide to play invoker in dota 2 game

Who is invoker

Invoker, known for many things like to be one of the strongest heroes in the game, the most difficult hero to play within the game and for example the hero with the most potential if used correctly.
I am going to explain several things to you like why Invoker is currently constantly picked and banned in the competitive scene. Why he is difficult to play. How his spells work. How they actually scale and how to use them to their full potential.
This guide is focused on explaining every aspect of Invoker. It's designed to help new player's to get an idea on how to play Invoker. Nevertheless intermediate player's may learn something too.
The guide is as well explaining things on a quite high level while trying to pull you through the basics too. Don't be afraid of the length of this guide, it might demotivate you but I really try to make sure that even new players get an idea of what I am actually talking about.

Before I start to get you a little bit closer to Invoker I feel I am in need to at first explain the 3 different "build's" you may noticed at the top of this guide. These don't just differ item-and skill wise they also really differ in the way they are commonly played. More UN-experienced player's are advised to skip this part and read it afterwards for better understanding purposes!

1. The Quas-Wex-Invoker
The combination of both, Quas and Wex, granting great team fight abilities, long range initiation coupled with a crippling huge aoe mana burn rendering low mana pool enemies completely useless if catched unprepared. Means this build is mostly providing control and the ability to position yourself much easier due to the higher movementspeed granted by Wex instead of dealing huge amounts of damage. Means you have superior team fighting, initiating and tower defending abilities but are less effective in simple pickoffs.

2. The Quas-Exort-Invoker
The pure pushing build. Focuses on the ability " Forge Spirit's" to push towers much easier. This is seen quite rare even in the current metagame. (which contains early tower pushing to get yourself a good advantage for the midgame - really simplified) You are able to push great and stunlock by yourself for several seconds and being useful in pickoff situations. The big disadvantage however are your limited team fight abilities which are simply not existent for quite some time when choosing this style of play. You are able to adapt later on and adjust your skill build by yourself if something doesn't work out. I strongly recommend you to only play this build if you are playing on a quite high level or in a team with friends where your lineup is focused on pushing.
However seems like this kind of play-style is fadeing out nowadays.

3. The Exort Invoker
Deals massive amounts of damage and provides superior last hitting power. Requires excellent timing and coordination to be really effective. Somewhat squishy due to the lack of Quas and Wex early on, can get easily picked off. With some levels able to completely disintegrate a whole team if spells are timed precisely, however hard to execute well, damage differs much depending on how you hit your spells.

Notice that all of these builds and play styles focus on the beginning of the game. You will be able to use every single spell in the late game, morphing into a real fearsome power, like you actually are anyway before that time.
Pros and Cons


Pros:
+ extremely versatile
+ can be very hard to kill or chase
+ able to deal massive amounts of damage
+ ranged
+ good attack animation
+ really dominant in lane

Cons:
- hard to master
- requires precise timing to be really effective
- low standard movement speed

Know your role

What is it really what you actually do you might ask, this section will help you to understand your task in the game throughout the game.

The most important thing for you to understand is that you are by no means a what is mostly considered "ganker". You are either a "pusher", "initiator" , "counterinitiater" or in general a "teamfighter"kind of hero. You are not supposed to solo gank with runes or just solo gank at all. You can support ganks with Sun Strike when you are Exort-Invoker. You are at first supposed to stay in your lane, win your lane and the most important thing: Don't die!

You are supposed to get levels because you get freaking powerful with levels. Means stay in your lane, lasthit, get experience and try to make it as hard as you can for your opponent in lane. If you see a chance capture it and go for the kill. There are some certain counters against you but you can however do what you need to do in most cases.

Ganking however as a Quas-Wex-Invoker might be appreciated in pub games but is actually not your task. As soon as you have got some levels and the first teamfights or towerpushes occur you do what you do best. You cause absolutely havoc in the fights. Avoid getting picked off and counterinitiate. When you counterinitiate, whatever you skilled, try to always hit as much enemy heroes as possible with your spells.

You need to be aware that you are really hitting either fast or hard depending on your skillbuild, so don't just run away after you got your spells off unless you expect getting focused.
Invoker Combo's - How to execute
The number and variety of spells that Invoker got in his arsenal allows him to combo up every spell with another one, means you can actually chain spells until your first used spells are of cooldown again, theoretically. Quite easily done with help of an Aghanim's Scepter.

 

Invoker Combo's - How to execute

I might add that these Step are here to give you an impression of what I am talking about and to make the guide a little more visually attractive, the quality somehow decreased for no apparent reason but should be solid all in all. Pls leave any sort of feedback on this if you wish this for future guides or you think it's pointless.

1. Tornado + EMP + Cold Snap
The standard combo you need to use with a Quas-Wex build, quite easy to execute though even if the timing differs on your levels of Quas and Wex.
2. Tornado + Chaos Meteor + Deafining Blast
Really useful and great damage output but only useable quite late because you miss the range on Tornado in the early stage of the game rendering this combo rather useless till the later game.
3. Tornado + Sun Strike
May secure you a kill on really long range, also useable quite late to either the lack of damage by Exort or the range of Tornado by Wex.
4. Forge Spirit + Cold Snap
Standard combo when playing Quas-Exort build and quite effective as it stunlocks an enemy hero for quite a long time.
5. Alacrity + Cold Snap
Alacrity may not be used on yourself but your maincarry while you Cold Snap his target so that he can get his damage out, especially useful for melee hardcarry's.
6. Tornado + Ice Wall + EMP
If other spells are on cooldown or you want to cut the fleeing path of enemy heroes off, this is a really good combo to do so.
7. Defeaning Blast + Sun Strike
Used quite rare but might come in handy in some situations but anyway highly dependant on your timing, hard to execute in ingame situations.
Useing Eul's Scepter of Divinity as initiate
8. Eul + Ice Wall + Cold Snap
Useful if you are chasing someone and want to make sure he is unable to escape. Even if you are unable to hit the target after your combo got off, your target will still get stunlocked by the damage of Ice Wall
9. Eul + Chaos Meteor + Sun Strike + Deafening Blast
If your Tornado is already on cooldown and you want to set your combo up perfectly, initiating with Eul's is really strong. Really hard to execute even with the help of Eul's but still possible with some practice, deals tons of damage.
10. Eul + EMP + Defeaning Blast
If you need to hold a single or multiple targets in the Aoe of EMP why dont use Deafening Blast instead of Tornado as you might need the Tornado later on.
11. Eul + Ghost Walk (Eul yourself up and immediately go into Ghost Walk)
If you are surrounded by enemies this is a really good trick to get out of certain situations. Won't work as long as your enemies carry Dust of Appearance, Sentry Ward's or a Gem of True Sight but can rescue your life.
12. Eul Stundodge
Eul's can also easily help you to dodge a stun to rescue your life or stop an enemy initiation. Enableing you to counterinitiate.
13. Ghostwalk Stundodge
It's important to be able to escape ganks or survive certain engagements, which can be done useing Ghostwalk, taking that to the next level means that you dodge incoming stuns from ganks or engagements.
To give you an impression of what Invoker is capable of
Just to show you why Aghanim's Scepter is such a great item on Invoker and what an Invoker is able to do if executeing nearly perfectly. Please note that this scene was scripted and didn't happen in a real MM game and that its purpose only is to give you an impression of what Invoker is capable of.

How to Pick hero in DOTA 2 - Tutorial Guide " How to pick Hero in Dota 2 "

 It's very important to not pick all heroes from a single strategy all the time - actually the more you can incorporate into a single team, the stronger it is. These lists should be a handy resource which will make crafting a complicated team a bit easier. Of course, heroes recently buffed in a given patch might outshine any logic through sheer power alone. The hallmark of a great captain such as Puppey is the ability to weave some oddball synergy into an otherwise standard team.


Please note that this guide does not cover laning or gold distribution. The reason you do not want a team of hard carries is mainly because they all require farm and all suck in lane together. I prefer the Chinese style of assigning farm priority from 1-5 to each hero, make sure you can do that comfortably in your team. Always keep winning lanes in mind, because your carefully laid plan could fall apart from the beginning otherwise.

Strategy: Fight Heroes

Naturally the largest amount of heroes work for this strategy. Contrary to popular belief, the most important thing is not AoE, 180 second cooldown wombo ults. You must have enough heroes on your team that can deal a decent amount of damage. Otherwise your whole strategy will go off, with no enemies dead. However, a hero that deals AoE, stunning damage, is still better in a fight than one that does single-target, vanilla damage, so keep it in mind if it did make the list.

Reliable Damage: Centaur, Earthshaker, Brewmaster, Sven, Tiny, Huskar, Shredder, Slardar, Sand King, Juggernaut, Phantom Lancer, Troll Warlord, Ursa, Vengeful Spirit, Bounty Hunter, Ember Spirit, Clinkz, Nyx Assassin, Terrorblade, Viper, Meepo, Crystal Maiden, Zeus, Lina, Tinker, Shadow Shaman, Skywrath Mage, Necrolyte, Queen of Pain

Unreliable/Situational Damage: Kunkka, Phoenix, Axe, Doom, Pudge, Sniper, Luna, Mirana, Gyrocopter, Drow Ranger, Templar Assassin, Bloodseeker, Shadow Fiend, Venomancer, Arc Warden, Enchantress, Puck, Keeper of the Light, Silencer, Windrunner, Disruptor, Ogre Magi, Jakiro, Rubick, Oracle, Lich, Pugna, Obsidian Destroyer, Batrider, Invoker, Leshrac, Witch Doctor, Winter Wyvern, Visage

Strategy: Fight Buildings

Your heroes should be able to deal heavy damage to towers, heal/bolster your own creep waves, and/or be able to push multiple areas quickly.

Global Pushers: Pit Lord, Io, Antimage, Morphling, Naga Siren, Tinker, Nature's Prophet

Summoners: Lycanthrope, Lone Druid, Broodmother, Enigma, Warlock, Nature's Prophet, Venomancer, Enchantress, Chen, Shadow Shaman

Tower Melters: Tiny, Drow Ranger, Clinkz, Terrorblade, Leshrac, Pugna, Windrunner, Techies, Death Prophet

Group Buffers: Skeleton King, Lycanthrope, Beastmaster, Juggernaut, Luna, Vengeful Spirit, Drow Ranger, Necrolyte, Dazzle

Strategy: Defend and Farm

You need to have at least 1 hard carry that can kill an entire team when he is done farming. The rest of your heroes must be able to defend against pushes, generally from a long range so they don't die themselves. It is situationally a good idea to pick heroes which help the carry to come online faster through powerful buffs or auras.

Defenders: Beastmaster, Earthshaker, Treant Protector, Undying, Elder Titan, Phoenix, Abaddon, Pit Lord, Pudge, Tidehunter, Magnus, Sand King, Kunkka, Sniper, Mirana, Dark Seer, Jakiro, Ancient Apparition, Venomancer, Arc Warden, Keeper of the Light, Lina, Storm Spirit, Techies, Shadow Shaman, Rubick, Death Prophet, Lich, Invoker

Team Wiping Ricers: Dragon Knight, Medusa, Spectre, Gyrocopter, Ember Spirit

Carry Boosters: Slardar, Magnus, Sven, Legion Commander, Io, Bloodseeker, Troll Warlord, Ogre Magi, Invoker

Squishiness

Something to keep in mind when the enemy is picking their team is how squishy they are. I might define "squishy" as having <2.0 Strength growth, and <25 starting Strength, but there are other factors involved such as Agility/base armor, items, and hero abilities.

If the enemy has a lot of squishy heroes, you want to pick one of the below to punish them. The enemy is letting you make a greedy pick, so take advantage of it. Likewise, you don't want to fill up your own team with too many squishies, unless you know all of the below heroes won't be a problem for your specific composition.

This list doubles as a "threat" list. Snowballers are the type of hero you want to prioritize countering. If they get started, you lose, so learn their weaknesses very well.

Snowballers: Alchemist, Chaos Knight, Nightstalker, Bristleback, Tiny, Legion Commander, Tuskarr, Spiritbreaker, Riki, Weaver, Faceless Void, Phantom Assassin, Morphling, Templar Assassin, Ursa, Bounty Hunter, Ember Spirit, Nyx Assassin, Spectre, Slark, Storm Spirit

Special mention if they have not enough squishies: Lifestealer

Hyper early game heroes:

Be careful picking any of these because they drop off fast. However, if your goal is to win QUICKLY (30 minutes or sooner), you will want 1 or more of these.

Gotta Go Fast: Undying, Brewmaster, Clockwerk, Shredder, Earth Spirit, Axe, Templar Assassin, Meepo, Slark, Crystal Maiden

If they have stupid mobility or are walking ults:

Long Silences: Doom, Bloodseeker, Drow Ranger, Riki, Silencer, Skywrath Mage

If they have scary autoattackers:

Evasion/Miss Chance: Brewmaster, Troll Warlord, Phantom Assassin, Riki, Keeper of the Light

Damage Reduction/Attack Speed Reduction: Pit Lord, Tidehunter, Razor, Bane, Enchantress, Visage

Disarm: Silencer, Invoker

Armor Buffers: Omniknight, Sven, Dragon Knight, Tiny, Lich

If BKB, Omni, Juggernaut, or Lifestealer will ruin your day:

Magic Immunity Piercing Stunners: Beastmaster, Pudge, Axe, Slardar, Faceless Void, Troll Warlord, Batrider, Bane, Enigma

If you need a purge:

Seeing an Omniknight on the enemy team is the biggest reason to pick one of these, but also Broodmother, Warlock, Hexers, and stunners, depending on the type of purge.

Diffusal Blade Carriers: Phantom Lancer, Naga Siren, Riki, Spectre

Eul Carriers: Shadow Fiend, Lina, Death Prophet, Ancient Apparition, Leshrac

Enemy Purgers: Shadow Demon, Oracle, Invoker

Ally Purgers: Abaddon, Legion Commander, Oracle

If they have heroes with low Intelligence:

Mana Thieves: Invoker, Silencer, Outworld Devourer, Lion, Keeper of the Light

If they have illusion carries:

Enemy Illusion Makers: Terrorblade, Dark Seer, Shadow Demon

Illusion Killers: Earthshaker, Medusa, Lion

Example 1:

You want to Fight Heroes. You start off with a VS and Slardar for their -armor combo, both having a stun, and generally leaving your options open in case you needed to switch to a Fight Towers strat, it is still possible. Picks 3 and 4 go by, you get 2 more under Fight Heroes since nothing frightening happened yet.

Finally they reveal an Antimage on their final pick. You know you want to end the game early against an Antimage, so you pick Shadow Shaman for his pushing capabilities, ability to stun the Antimage, and his wards work with Slardar's ultimate too. If their carry was a Medusa, you might have gotten a Nyx Assassin instead - his ult also comboes with -armor, but he has the additional counter against Mana Shield.

Possibilities here are endless, but the point is you start off with a strong and versatile strategy, and then counter, always keeping synergy in mind.

Example 2:

Your plan is to stack long ranged surprise kills with Mirana and Kunkka. You can definitely go with the Defend and Farm strategy with that start - so now to pick a defender with lower cooldowns, and a nice hard carry which goes with the team. Jakiro and Gyrocopter also have long range, so let's pick those. Finally, we have completely everything for our team already, and the enemy got a Rikimaru, so we choose Bounty Hunter to counter his invisibility, and give Gyro a money boost which means he can be in more fights without sacrificing potential gold. We were going to put Kunkka mid and Mirana in a trilane, but they are such versatile first picks that we could completely swap that around, placing the Bounty Hunter mid instead.

There will sometimes be many more factors/dangerous enemy heroes to consider in picking, but many times it is really as easy as that.

Example 3:

You want to go for a healing/pushing strategy, so you grab Omniknight and Dazzle, leaving your tower pushers open. The enemy instantly grabs Jakiro and Tidehunter, making your pushing strategy not so optimal any more. You finish the team off as a mix of defending and pushing, choosing Dragon Knight as the ricer/pushing carry, and Rubick to counter pushes as well as try to steal the tide ult. You don't have any bans to spare so you finish with Ancient Apparition to defend against pushes, as well as prevent him from being picked to counter your healing.

How to farm properly in DOTA 2 game - Dota 2 farming guide

Many people don't know how to farm properly. This dota 2 farming guide is aimed to be solution for this problem - mainly for low/mid skill players. I'm sure though that some of the presented tricks and strategies may be unknown even by higher level gamers. At the beginning I will focus on commonly made mistakes and will gradually move to the more advanced tactics. Enjoy reading!



What is last hitting?

Last hitting is an art of landing the killing blow to the creeps making you gain gold or denying them to prevent your enemy from getting full experience and gold. Once mastered it will take your skill to another level where expensive carry items become ridiculously cheap.There are many factors that affect your last hitting ratio, i will discuss them more precisely later. Every experienced player will tell you that this skill comes with practice, but I'm sure my guide will give you a few hints that will make you last hits more successful.


What you want is to keep an eye on hp of each creep and hero in your range of sight. It's impossible to last hit if you don't know how much hp target has. No hp bars = less control.

Solution:
When in game go to Options -> Game -> "Always show hp bars"


If you want to win you must not farm when laning with a hero that needs a lot of gold. If you have 2 carries on lane ask for lane swap or next game wait for your allies to pick and get some support hero instead.

Q: "WHAT? I MUSTN'T FARM? WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THEN?"

A: Try to harass enemy heroes to secure your lanepartner's farm, deny as many creeps as possible to avoid pushing, go creep pulling, if you have some sort of disable and your carry is farming peacefully - leave him and try to gank other lanes, go check runes. There is a lot of posibilities - you just need to restrain your ego and adapt to what your team needs currently.

Going "solo mid" without proper lasthit knowledge

Solo lane (especially mid) is one of the hardest role in the entire team. With great benefits comes great responsibility: failed solo usually results in getting overfarmed and overleveled enemy that is able to decimate enemy team in seconds. Playing on this lane is a tricky mind game in which "last hitting" plays the leading role. If you are unsure of your "last hitting" skills - leave this lane for more experienced players.

Denying...

What? How is denying a mistake?
Well, sometimes people don't understand that denying too much does more harm than good. Here are some examples:

1. Creeps are deniable once they are below 40% of hp. That doesn't mean you should attack them as fast as they reach that border. You will need 2-3 attacks to deny them and often enemies will often notice the obvious deny attempt and get an easy lasthit.

2. Do not care that much of denying when playing carry hero, focus on getting as much gold per minute as possible.

3. Do not try to deny when your creeps are at ~30-40% hp and approaching enemy tower. Let the tower do the job for you, there's no point in exposing yourself to tower attacks.

Best DOTA 2 Guide that make you Play like a PRO

Looking for the best and the complete guide to Dota 2? This is it , guide that has a collection of everything you would like to know about Dota 2. - Strategy Guide Featured With plenty of Tips- Cheat Codes- Walkthrough & Tricks- Hints & Suggestions- Secrets, Unlockables, lot Advanced methods, & many More

Download this dota guides and PLAY LIKE A PRO !