Learning to play Invoker - Part 2

Part 1: here.

In part two of my attempts to learn this most magnificent of mages, I wanted to discuss item and skill builds. This has proven to be a Herculean task, as Invoker's greatest strength lies in his versatility. He can be adapted to almost any situation and as such a lot of his play style will vary depending on what your team needs at the time. I'll cover the most common skill builds and items, but don't be afraid to come out of left field with a Rod of Atos and a Hand of Midas if you think that's what the situation calls for.

Skill Builds

One of the first things you'll need to do after picking Invoker is decide what skill build to use. This can be influenced as much by personal preference as by the situation so it is important to experiment with each to be comfortable using them. 

Quas/Wex

As little as a couple of months ago, Quas/Wex Invoker dominated the pro scene. Since then Tornado and EMP have been nerfed but they are still extremely effective spells for crowd control. Tornado will give the rest of your team time to move into position in a team fight, catch up during a chase or escape when caught out of position. It can also be used to cancel those pesky channeling spells like Black Hole or Freezing Field to turn around a team fight not going your way.

The mana drain and damage from EMP can be deadly to any squishy support heroes as well, forcing them to leave the fight or hang around with no mana waiting to be picked off. Even if it's not a hero that relies on spell casting they will still be hurt by the loss of mana (for example Skeleton King). Since it has a charge time it can be easy for enemies to dodge so it is best used in combination with Tornado or another move that forces the enemy to stay in position such as Static Field or Fissure. Quas/Wex also give you access to Ghost Walk, useful for escaping, scouting or using the slow to safely ensure an enemy hero doesn't escape while an ally finishes them off.

Quas/Exort

If Quas/Wex is Invoker in caster mode, Exort/Quas is Invoker in action mode. Quas/Exort gives excellent lane control with Exort giving damage for last hits and harass, and Quas giving enough regen to stay in lane and trade hits with the enemy hero. The mini stun and extra damage from Cold Snap can be used to increase harass or get a kill and is another valuable asset for controlling a lane. Forge Spirits will melt through towers and heroes alike and can be used for pushing or extra damage in a fight.

Sun strike will catch any puny heroes attempting to escape your wrath and gives Invoker a global presence, keeping everyone on their toes. Ice Wall is a useful spell for corralling enemy heroes in a team fight, preventing them from escaping or chasing depending on how the fight goes. Quas/Exort gives Invoker teamfight, lane control, lockdown and pushing potential and so is currently the most common skill build in the pro scene.

Exort/Wex

Nobody ever builds Exort/Wex, but that doesn't mean you can't be the first! Exort/Wex would give Invoker a lot of damage and attack speed, with the mana pool to keep up a relentless barrage of spells. The spells this build gives access to don't synergise particularly well though. EMP and Chaos Meteor are easily dodged, and although Alacrity is a great spell, you won't really have the health to be taking people 1v1. This build could work it you decided to play a carry Invoker and had some AOE lockdown to help land EMP and Chaos Meteor but it’s not something I would recommend, particularly if you’re still learning like me.

Build Order

Once again quite situational, there are a few basic rules to follow when picking where to put your skill points. Get invoke at level two so you can start slinging spells as soon as possible if Quas or Exort is the predominant skill (Cold Snap and Sun Strike can be useful even at low levels, but there’s no point getting EMP early on). Then level up the two skills of your build until about level seven, then put a point in the third skill (Exort if you’re going Quas/Wex, Wex if you’re Quas/Exort) to be able to make use of Invoker’s full complement of spells. After that I prefer to level each skill equally, so each spell is going to be improved but if there is a particular spell you prefer it may be worth focusing your points on leveling it.

 

Item Build

Situational. I feel like I’m using the word more than that guy from Jersey Shore, but adapting to the situation is as important to Invoker as besmirching Spiderman’s good name is to J Jonah Jameson. As such an argument can be made for almost any item to be built. Rather than go through each item an discuss the pros and cons, I’ll just go through the recommended and more common items that are used.

Starting Items

With some stats, regen and strength for more health the starting items are quite a good pick. The gauntlet and circlet build into a Drums of Endurance, which is another good item for Invoker so there are no useless items starting in your inventory. An alternative is to start with a Blades of Attack for even more damage and build it into Phase Boots but can leave Invoker with fairly low HP and little regen.

Early Game Items

I would hope you could farm these up and move on to some bigger items fairly quickly, especially when solo mid. Once again they are solid choices though, a Magic Stick into Magic Wand is always a good choice, finishing off the Bracer to move into drums and some boots for phase. If in mid lane you’ll need a bottle before any of these to help with rune control and for a little bit of extra health and mana whilst ganking or in lane.

Core Items

The theme of the core items is mobility. As Invoker you’ll want to be running around the map ganking keeping a level and farm advantage for as long as possible, which is somewhat hampered by a starting move speed of 290. The Phase Boots and Drums of Endurance along with Wex will soon have you zipping about the map like the Flash, but useful. The changes to the items that build into Force Staff have made it slightly less useful for Invoker but its active is still an incredibly useful and versatile spell.

Use it on yourself for chasing, positioning or escaping and similarly on your allies. You can use it on enemies to move them out of position and into an Ice Wall, through a Dark Seer’s Wall of Replica, your fountain. The possibilities are endless. Blink Dagger can be used instead for more pinpoint positioning and is slightly cheaper but gives no stat buffs and is far less versatile.

Situational Items

There’s that word again. Aghanim’s Scepter is more of a core item as the all-around stat buff along with the increased health and mana adds to Invoker’s adaptability and the decreased cool down on Invoke is invaluable when slinging spells in the heat of battle. Guinsoo’s Scythe of Vyse and Eul’s Scepter of Divinity are both good disables and the stat and mana regeneration boosts are very helpful.

Eul’s is a good choice as it is a little bit cheaper and gives another movement speed increase but Hex is a slightly more useful disable. The choice is yours! Black King Bar will help if you find yourself constantly shut down by enemy casters and Shiva’s Guard will help if you find yourself constantly being killed by someone with high DPS. The active is also a useful asset in chasing or initiating. Skadi is once again that item to let your enemies know that you have far too much gold, like Porches and monocles. It’s a good item, but there are plenty of more useful ones to purchase first.

For Connoisseurs

Necronomicon gives some good bonus stats but it is unusual for Invoker to be played as a pusher. Unless your team is planning on finishing the game as early as possible or running the ever deadly five Necronomicon strat, there are better items.

Dagon can give that bit of extra damage needed in a fight to finish off your opponent. Useful if there is a Pugna or an Ethereal Blade on the team but otherwise its usefulness is limited with the popularity of BKBs, which your Invoker fearing opponents will likely buy.

If the enemy team is made up of squishy casters then Orchid Malevolence makes Invoker a deadly mage hunter. It is also useful for catching heroes with an escape mechanism like Queen of Pain or Clinkz. The extra damage, intelligence, attack speed and damage amplification are all very nice as well.

If you find yourself at the forefront of every battle and the focus of all your enemies' attacks then Heart of Tarrasque will give some much needed survivability.

Some all-around stats, good regen and blocks to most targeted spells will leave enemy spellcasters tearing their hair out with frustration

If you’ve gained a solid lead in the early game, Bloodstone will ensure you snowball your way into victory whilst making you quite a tank. The reduction in revival time is also highly useful for getting back out onto the field after a death.

These are all good choices if you decide it’s clobberin’ time. With a couple of these you’ll quickly out DPS most carries and become a carry yourself. This is not license to declare yourself a carry at the start of each and every game though, but it is a role that Invoker can fill if the situation calls for it.

 

Useful Links

These are some links that will aid you in your quest to become an Invokemaster.

http://i.imgur.com/8gOgG.jpg
http://cdn.1d4.us/images.nonexiste.net/images/irc/2012/03/24/Invoker-skills-Dota-2.png
http://i.imgur.com/knPmj.jpg

These are all useful reference images for Invoker's spells. Printing them out to refer to in game, throw on a second monitor or use as wallpaper will help learn and master his many moves.

http://www.invokergame.com
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/75495922/InvokerTrainer2.0.htm

These are two great community created mini games to help practice the invoking of spells. Try to put a few minutes into one of these each day to really memorise skill patterns and soon you'll be flicking through spells like a grand magus yourself.

So that's it for this week. Thanks to the r/DotA2 community for the images and Project_Swift for sharing some of his vast Invoker knowledge with me. Say hi if you see him in a game. As always make sure to comment and let me know what you think, and until next week, happy gaming!

(What is this doing here?)