Invoker Guide

The Invoker




Items

Vanguard, Orchid Malevolence, Monkey King Bar, Satanic, Stygian Desolator, Manta Style, Butterfly, Eye of Skadi, Power Treads, Phase Boots, Black King Bar, Hood of Defiance, Mask of Madness, Cranium Basher, Linken’s Sphere, Radiance, Buriza du-Kyanon, Assault Cuirass, Aghanim’s Scepter.


Tactics


Everything in the Push and Kill sections.


Removing lane opponents:


If you are carrying with Invoker it helps magnificently to start in mid lane. Sure, you lose access to the side shops and therefore easy construction of an Orchid, but the fog of war in mid lane more than makes up for it. By the time early game starts fading out it should be nighttime. Thus when you want to chase your enemy out of the lane all you need to do is pull the creep line back such that you are at the top of the ramp, where your enemy can’t see you. Unless they refuse to farm and deny then they will have to come into the river. Once they are in position, you can start harassing them with your potent spells.

In an Exort build I cast Chaos Meteor or Alacrity. Alacrity if they have shown themselves to be slow to react when I attack them, Chaos Meteor if they tend to run. If they are being cautious and don't give you any opportunities to get close, hit them with a Sunstrike the next time they go in for a last hit.

Wex builds have a fantastic way to send enemies back: EMP. Should this be insufficient you can also try Alacrity or Tornado, though Alacrity tends to be more efficient with its low manacost and cooldown.

With a Quas build I use Cold Snap or Ice Wall. Cold Snap will do a lot of damage if you can trick them to attack you first (and thereby attract fire from your creeps). If the other player is reluctant to engage you then Ice Wall can provide you with a good few seconds to hit them freely. Said reluctant player will be unlikely to suddenly become aggressive, and their response to the appearance of the wall will be to run away.

The hybrid builds are situation dependent. Just use some spell I mentioned in the above sections. It will likely be obvious which spell will be most effective. If not then just swap between the potential spells to stay unpredictable.


Builds


1) QW
2) QE
3) Note for the Wex builds
4) WQ
5) WE
6) EQ
7) EW



Role Considerations


Support: You will not have Alacrity or Forge Spirits until late game, so you will need to rely on items to provide buffs. I recommend the healing items: Mekansm, Urn of Shadows, and Bloodstone.

Disable: A natural build for a Disable Invoker. You already have many disables through your skills, so it might be prudent to use item slots on survivability items, or maybe Aghanim’s. Something like a Blink Dagger or Force Staff would not be untowards as well, since they both increase your ability to chase/initiate.

Push: Your pushes will be slow until you get to higher levels of Tornado, so you will need to build up large waves of allied creeps with Deafening Blast. Consider getting a Mekansm or early Assault Cuirass to aid in this.

Kill: You will need damage items. You don’t do enough by yourself. Go get a Desolator or Radiance so you aren’t useless (don’t forget Radiance is good for Cold Snap and Ghost Walk).

Carry: You can actually become a reasonably solid tank carry if you get the right items. A setup like Heart of Tarrasque, Power Treads, Eye of Skadi, and Manta Style can yield quite a lot of EHP, and help you take advantage of your high regen and disables. Radiance and Mjollnir are also solid item choices to improve your DPS.


Replays


EW-Disable/Carry: Download


WQ-Kill: Download
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