Dota 2 has a large variety of heroes that include strength, agility, and intelligence-based categories. Intelligence-type heroes have high burst damage type abilities and large mana reserves. They tend to be squishier, but their nuke abilities make up for that by dealing massive amounts of damage to enemy heroes.
Most of these heroes are typically played in the Mid lane or as supports. Knowing how to position these heroes is essential since their low HP pools make them an easy target.
There are a total of forty-three heroes in this category. This article lists down the top Intelligence Heroes in Dota 2 that you should know and add to your hero pool.
Storm Spirit
Storm Spirit is one of the ranged carry intelligence heroes in Dota 2. He is mostly played in the Mid lane as he needs the extra gold to build items and gain an early XP advantage. With three active moves, this hero consumes a lot of mana, for which he is item dependent. If you don’t farm efficiently during the early game, this hero becomes very hard to play.
A well-farmed storm spirit can be impossible to kill in the late game. He can use ball lightning to gank heroes and escape. Unless your team has stuns and silences, there is no way to catch this hero or stop him from killing you wherever you are on the map.
He is best against heroes against whom you want to close the gap as soon as possible. Heroes like Sniper cannot do much against him. Additionally, with an orchid malevolence, he can target other intelligence-type heroes. Silencing them allows him to disable enemy heroes and nuke them down while they helplessly try to run away.
Tinker
Tinker received a lot of changes in the recent patches. His move, March of the Machines was removed and added as a bonus ability that he can activate by buying Aghanim’s Shard. He was replaced by Keen Conveyance, an ability that gives him built-in Boots of Travel. So, Tinker no longer has to buy 2400 Gold worth of boots and start hunting heroes and pushing lanes much earlier.
Tinker’s laser does damage to enemy heroes and makes them miss their attacks. It is especially good against right-clicker heroes like Phantom Assassin and Slark. Timing this move right can save Tinker as he does not have an escape ability and relies on his blink dagger.
Heat Seeking missiles is another great ability that targets heroes within a range and deals heavy damage to them. This ability to nuke enemy heroes from far away can be valuable in team fights as Tinker is a squishy hero.
He is great for pushing lanes and creating space for the team’s carry. Therefore, it’s best to pick him when you have late-game carries like Spectre or Anti-mage on your team.
Outworld Devourer
Outworld Devourer is a ranged right-click hero. He has a very high damage output due to his Arcane Orb ability, which makes him exceptionally well against High armored targets. Although, this move is dependent on his intelligence attribute and Mana Pool. To complement this, he needs to purchase items such as Scythe of Vyse and Aghanim’s Scepter.
His second ability, Astral Imprisonment entraps heroes into an astral prison which lasts up to 4 seconds. After which, the hero receives damage and loses a certain percentage of their max mana. Pairing this with Essence Flux allows Outworld Devourer to recover 50% of his mana, allowing him to keep on using his abilities against enemy heroes until they die.
The final and ultimate ability, Sanity’s Eclipse, deals damage in an AoE to all enemy heroes based on the difference between their mana and Outworld Devourers. This ability makes Outworld Devourer better against other intelligence-type heroes. As he can simply steal their mana and finish them off with this ability.
Invoker
Invoker is one of the most complex heroes of Dota 2. He is the only hero to have a total of 14 different abilities. Each of which relies on Quas, Wex, and Exort. At any given moment, Invoker may only keep two abilities active in his inventory. It takes a certain level of game sense and keyboard maneuverability to use him effectively and cast multiple spells simultaneously.
Quas gives Invoker increased health regen. Wex helps increase his attack speed and movement speed, while Exort increases his overall attack damage. His final ability Invoke allows him to use these three in various combinations to utilize other abilities in his arsenal.
Items such as Blink Dagger and Octarine Core are a must on this hero. Invoker can use the blink to jump in and initiate team fights, while the Octarine Core reduces cooldowns for each of his abilities. Refresher Orb is an item that only well-trained and experienced players should buy. It allows Invoker to reset the cooldown for all his abilities and re-cast them effectively. By doing this, Invoker becomes an unstoppable nuker who can effectively take down the entire enemy team by himself.
Nature’s Prophet
Nature’s Prophet is a ranged hero who’s playstyle differs from the rest. His in-built teleport ability, much like Tinker, allows him to teleport anywhere on the map. Using it to push out lanes and distract the enemy team.
His ability includes summoning treants. These are friendly creeps that are solely under the command of Nature’s Prophet. It’s very strategic to use them to push out dangerous lanes where Nature Prophet himself cannot go, deep into enemy territory.
Finally, his ultimate ability Wrath of Nature, is a global ability that targets all enemy heroes visible on the map bouncing between them. With each bounce, the damage increment increases, dealing more and more damage. Since this ability also hits enemy creeps, it can be used to push out lanes. This is why Nature’s Prophet is one of the best pushers in-game.
Queen of Pain
Queen of Pain is a ranged hero who needs to get close to enemies to use her abilities. This is why a lot of understanding of how to position yourself is important before playing this hero. Most of her abilities are AoE, which damage all her enemies, allowing her to devastate entire teams by herself.
She is one of those heroes that have a built-in Blink. This helps her mobility in moving across the map, covering entire distances in a short amount of time. With the Aghanim’s Shard upgrade, you can deal damage after blinking.
While she does need to close the gap to her enemies, she is a fragile hero who can be easily killed if stunned or silenced. This is why heroes like Silencer are a direct counter to her.
Lina
Lina is a ranged hero who can function both as a support or carry hero depending on the matchups. She can also function as a support since she has high damage spells that can easily nuke enemy heroes without needing any additional items. However, even when played as a carry hero, she can be incredibly hard to deal with due to her ability to deal high burst damage..
She has an in-built stun with a timer delay called Light Strike Array. It is tricky to place but once done, Lina can use the rest of her high damage output abilities to instantly kill most heroes. Her passive ability fiery soul allows her to have increased attack speed as she uses more spells. This can be highly effective when pushing towers or simply right-clicking enemy heroes.
Since Lina is a very fragile hero, it’s best to place her with a tank in the team. A hero like Axe can bait enemy heroes, while Lina can safely execute all her abilities and kill enemy heroes from a safe distance.
Enchantress
Enchantress is another great ranged support intelligence hero. She has a wide variety of abilities and spells that make her an exceptional support. Aside from that, Enchantress is also capable of dealing high burst damage as well as healing allies and converting enemy creeps into friendlies. Not to mention she also has a slow that allows her to kite enemy heroes using her Impetus.
Impetus is a great first ability that can be activated early. This means that Enchantress should always win the bounty runes fight. Using this early game advantage to win her team additional Gold. This ability does consume a lot of mana but that’s not too much of a problem in the late game as she is an intelligence hero with large mana reserves.
Enchantress is exceptionally well at dealing damage to enemy heroes from a distance. Therefore, building a Dragon Lance and later converting it into a hurricane pike is always recommended. She should be the last hero to join in in team fights after the enemy heroes have used all their spells and stuns. This allows her to deal with damages, making enemies retreat in panic safely.
Intelligence-based heroes in Dota 2 are tricky yet exciting to play. Unlike other heroes in the game, they can easily kill or be killed. They play a very important part as nukers in Teamfights. Hopefully, this article will help you pick better heroes who will help you win your matches and get to the immortal bracket. Â To learn more about the best strength category heroes in Dota 2, be sure to check out our guide.
