Invoker is the most complex hero in Dota 2. With that complexity comes the advantage of absolute dominance in the game when played right. He does require a lot of experience and game mastery to play him to his best capacity. Nevertheless, Invoker is a beast in any good player’s hands. This article will focus on how you can beat him by using the Best Invoker Counters in Dota 2.
A powerful spell caster with the highest number of spells in his arsenal, Invoker is the hardest hero to learn in-game. As he requires more Gold and XP than the traditional heroes of Dota, he is mostly played as a mid hero. There are countless playstyles associated with this hero, and so it’s also tricky to find out how your opponent intends to play Invoker.
Being extremely versatile gives Invoker access to disables, stuns, magic combos, high damage dealing spells, and capabilities to push enemy towers. However, if he is silenced in team fights or denied his early game farm, then Invoker could potentially be less of a threat.
Invoker
Carl, also known as the Invoker, is a ranged intelligence hero. In total, this hero has 14 abilities that are a combination of the first three abilities. Quas, Wex, and Exort. His ultimate ability is Invoke. This allows him to use all types of combinations from the first three to create these spells. Invoker can have three instances of either Quas, Wex, or Exort active at any given moment.
Quas allows Invoker to control the ice element. The more instances of Quas he has active, the more health regen he has. This can be useful during the early laning stages where Invoker does not have to spend too much Gold for Regen items. Quas allows invoker access to spells like; Cold Snap, Ghost Walk, and Ice Wall.
Wex lets Invoker manipulate the storm element. The more instances of Wex are active, the more Invoker’s attack and movement speed will increase. Invoker can use this ability to farm jungle creeps faster with the added attack speed bonus. Wex allows Invoker to use spells like; EMP, Tornado, and Alacrity.
Exort allows Invoker to control and manipulate the fire element. This increases his attack damage while providing him a passive intelligence bonus. During the early game, this can be used to deliver high damage via right clicks to enemy heroes. Which forces them to buy more regen. It is also a great ability to take last hits from your opponents in the Mid lane, giving you an advantage in Gold and XP. Exort lets Invoker use abilities like; Sun Strike, Forge Spirit, and the Chaos Meteor.
The combination of Quas, Wex, and Exort opens up a unique ability called the Deafening Blast, giving Invoker access to over 14 abilities to use depending on the situation at hand.
Counters
Despite the number of abilities that Invoker can use at any given circumstance, some heroes can counter Invoker and kill him if he’s not careful enough. Drafting these heroes will make an Invoker think twice before going out of position.
Outworld Devourer
Outworld Devourer is an amazing counter to most Intelligence heroes in Dota 2. Similarly, his intelligence stealing abilities work well against Invoker too. However, Outworld Devourer must be careful as Sanity’s Eclipse may not work well against Invoker due to his high intelligence gain.
Astral Imprisonment can isolate Invoker from the rest of his team or even be used to save an ally against Invoker’s combos. Additionally, Arcane Orbs deal a lot of damage to Invoker. Even if Invoker uses his abnormal strength gain, the Pure damage from this spell will kill him.
Invoker cannot use EMP against Outworld Devourer as he has Equilibrium to get back the lost mana.
Queen of Pain
Queen of Pain is a hero that’s usually played in the Mid lane. This pairs her against Invoker, which counters his much-needed Gold and XP in lane. Utilizing this Queen of Pain can outlane Invoker and keep him distracted. That way, he cannot gank any other lane, which gives her teammates an advantage.
Queen of Pain can use Shadow Strike to slow down Invoker’s movement speed, making it easier to target him. Furthermore, you can also use Blink initiate with him or escape the battle if Queen of pain’s health drops low.
Lastly, the Scream of Pain deals huge nuke damage, which can be deadly for Invoker if he falls out of position.
Silencer
Silencer is one of the Best Invoker Counters in Dota 2. As his name indicates, he can silence heroes. For heroes in the intelligence-type category, this can be fatal.
Invoker’s heavy reliance on his spells makes him useless when Global Silence is cast. It also interrupts any of his ongoing spell combos. During this, Invoker is unable to use any of his spells and is most vulnerable.
Arcane Curse is bad for Invoker as the more spells he casts, the more health he continues to lose. This works even if he’s only invoking spells and not casting them. Last word will also silence Invoker whenever he casts his ultimate—making it hard for him to cast follow-up spells for his combos.
Anti Mage
Anti Mage is a core Position 1 hero, who can counter Invoker without being dependant on his items or Gold. The hero’s abilities themselves are capable of taking him down. His high magic resistance makes him unkillable by Invoker alone.
Invoker is a hero with a large mana pool and heavy reliance on continued mana regen. That means the more spells and combos he casts, the more mana he requires. This makes him an easy target for Anti Mage’s ultimate, Mana Void. To the point that if caught with low mana, Anti Mage could potentially kill Invoker with this move.
Mana Break drains mana from enemy heroes attacked by Anti mage. Every right-click attack makes Invoker lose mana and with it, his ability to cast spells. Leaving him vulnerable enough to be killed.
Templar Assassin
Templar Assassin is another great Mid lane hero. She can outmatch Invoker in lane and steal all his last hits due to her refraction ability. She can also use Refraction to deal additional damage to creeps and Invoker, forcing him to focus on regen. If Invoker is not careful enough, he could die from the damage received by Templar Assassin.
Invoker also cannot use Cold Snap on Templar Assassin to activate the Refraction instances to defend herself. It also protects her against the global sun strike. This makes her worthy of being included in this list of Best Invoker Counters in Dota 2.
Viper
Viper is a strong hero and can be played as a safelane and Mid lane core. His single target attacks give him a strong presence against Invoker. Corrosive skin gives passive magic resistance, making him receive less damage from all of Invoker’s spells and combos. Meaning Viper is more potent at surviving a face-to-face battle against Invoker.
Poison attacks can be deadly in the early game stage. Viper can use it to chip off Invoker’s health and have him overspend on regen items. The damage over time may even be more than enough to kill Invoker, if he’s not careful.
