How to Play Invoker in Dota 2

Invoker is undoubtedly one of the most difficult to play Dota 2 heroes, as using his abilities often feels like playing the piano. At the same time, his vast arsenal of powerful skills allows him to easily adapt to any situation, deal significant magical damage, and support his allies during team fights. In our comprehensive Invoker guide, you’ll discover the best ways to play this hero, efficiently use his skills, and assemble proper items to unleash his full potential.

Who Is Invoker in Dota 2?

Invoker in Dota 2 is a ranged Intelligence hero. He boasts strong initial stats, making him dangerous in the early and mid-game phases.

Invoker’s Background

Invoker’s real name is Carl, which is a joke based on the misspelling of the name Keal (the character from Warcraft, whose model was used for Invoker in DotA Allstars). He’s an ancient, powerful master of mnemonic magical charms. Unlike other mages of his era, who were capable of using up to four incantations, Invoker learned ten powerful spells, which he can cast instantly.

Role and Features

Playing Invoker in Dota 2 is challenging but also highly rewarding. Due to his great adaptability, variety of spells, and strong stats, you can change his role on the fly depending on the in-game situation. Players usually pick Invoker for the following positions:

1. Midlaner;
2. Carry;
3. Nuker;
4. Pusher;
5. Disabler.

Additionally, the hero’s fast movement speed and variety of escape abilities make it difficult for enemies to catch him. On the other hand, the hero still lacks survivability due to his relatively low HP pool.

When to Pick Invoker?

You should pick Invoker only when confident in handling his complexity, which requires strong micromanagement skills and thorough knowledge of his abilities. Also, consider the following factors:

1. Team composition: There are heroes among your allies who can stun enemies so that you can use magic combos more effectively.
2. Opponents: It’s recommended to avoid playing against heroes who can disrupt your ability to execute spells.
3. Income potential: Invoker highly depends on gold. If another Carry in your team needs to farm aggressively during the Early Game stage, your progression may significantly slow down.

Invoker’s Abilities Explained

Unlike usual heroes, Carl enhances his orbs, which allow him to create various spells and boost his stats. You are welcome to read our Dota Invoker guide to find out more about each of these mysterious floating spheres.

Quas

Quas is tied to the ice element, and its activation guarantees up to 10 bonus HP regeneration. Additionally, it grants +1 strength per level of the Quas sphere.

Wex

Wex is a storm sphere that grants Invoker up to +6% move speed and up to +10 attack speed. Plus, it also gives +1 passive agility per Wex orb level.

Exort

Exort is the fire sphere that enhances Invoker to manipulate fire and boosts his attack damage by up to +20. Also, it provides the hero with +1 passive intelligence per level of the Exort orb.

Invoke

Dota 2 Invoker doesn’t have an ultimate ability, at least it doesn't work like one. His Invoke spell is available right at level one, and it allows him to craft any of his ten spells by combining Quas, Wex, and Exort orbs.

Talent Tree and Aspects

During the Drafting Phase of the game, you can choose one of three aspects. Your option should directly depend on your future role in the team and preferred playstyle:

It’s also essential to choose the right talents. Of course, you should consider your specific in-game situation, item builds, and skill progression to select the most appropriate option. However, if you hesitate about which one you should take, simply choose the most popular talents highlighted below:

All Invoker Spells

The first thing you must understand when learning how to play Invoker in Dota 2 is the combinations that activate each hero’s 10 spells. Moreover, you should understand how these abilities work so that you can use them appropriately.

Cold Snap

Combination: Quas + Quas + Quas.

Drawing the heat from an enemy, Invoker makes them take damage and microstuns.

Ghost Walk

Combination: Quas + Quas + Wex.

The spell makes Invoker invisible for 60 seconds, providing bonus health and mana regeneration. It also slows nearby enemies and alters Carl’s movement speed.

Ice Wall

Combination: Quas + Quas + Exort.

Invoker creates the ice wall that slows the enemies and deals damage over time.

EMP

Combination: Wex + Wex + Wex.

Invoker creates a charge of energy, which automatically detonates after 2.9 seconds, draining mana and dealing damage equal to 60% of the mana drained. Additionally, Invoker gains 25% of mana drained from heroes.

Tornado

Combination: Wex + Wex + Quas.

Casting this spell unleashes a tornado that lifts enemies into the air and damages them.

Alacrity

Combination: Wex + Wex + Exort.

Invoker infuses himself or an ally with energy, granting bonus attack speed and damage for 9 seconds.

Sun Strike

Combination: Exort + Exort + Exort.

This ability activates a ray of the sun's energy at any location on the map, which strikes the ground after a 1.7-second delay and deals pure damage.

Forge Spirit

Combination: Exort + Exort + Quas.

Invoker summons elementals whose attacks reduce enemy armor and deal damage. The spirits’ health, spawn time, and attack range are determined by the level of Quas’s.

Chaos Meteor

Combination: Exort + Exort + Wex.

The spell throws a flaming meteor onto the targeted location. After landing, it continues rolling forward, constantly dealing damage and setting enemies on fire.

Deafening Blast

Combination: Quas + Wex + Exort.

Invoker casts a sonic wave, dealing damage to all affected units, knocks them back, and disarms them.

Best Skill Build for Invoker

In this part of our Invoker guide, we’ll briefly review the core skill builds for this hero, highlighting their main advantages.

Quas-Wex

This skill build is a perfect option for players who frequently participate in team fights and roam from lane to lane to help their allies. Maxing Quas and Wex orbs provides excellent abilities for controlling several enemies and burning their mana. On the other hand, consider that opting for this skill build will slow down your farming during the early stages of the match. The Quas-Wex option is preferred when you play as Midlaner and Roamer.

Quas-Exort

If you want to focus on dealing significant damage, maxing Quas and Exort orbs is an excellent option, as it’ll turn your Sun Strike and Meteor into serious threats during the team fights. Additionally, this skill build significantly boosts your farming speed, allows you to eliminate enemies on any corner of the map, and increases your pushing potential. The Quas-Exort build is ideal for a Carry or Pusher role.

Invoker Combos

We’ve prepared the list of the most popular and efficient Invoker combos. If you learn to execute these combinations of spells quickly, your enemies will struggle to win fights against you:

1. EMP+Tornado+Cold Snap — drains enemy mana, causes damage, and makes escape almost impossible.
2. Forge Spirit+Alacrity+Cold Snap — delivers significant right-click damage, especially during the Early Game phase.
3. Tornado+Sun Strike — a simple but effective combo to hit an enemy with your Sun Strike and deal heavy damage.
4. Tornado+Chaos Meteor+Deafening Blast — a classic combo focused on dealing massive damage to one or multiple opponents.
5. Ice Wall+Forge Spirit+Cold Snap — another efficient combination that prevents almost any enemy from escaping.

How to Play Invoker in Each Game Stage?

Now, once you know how to use your abilities properly, it’s time to get to the most interesting part of our Dota 2 Invoker guide. Below, we’ll review the hero’s main objectives during each stage of the match, along with generally recommended item builds.

Early Game

If you play QW Invoker, your focus should be on winning the Mid lane and occasionally ganking other lanes. With QE Dota Invoker, your primary task is to focus primarily on farming the creeps on your lane and the nearby jungle. Also, remember to communicate with the teammates and ask them to inform you in time about injured enemies attempting to escape so that you can kill them with your Sun Strike.

When it comes to purchasing items, first of all, it’s a good idea to start with:

Item Name	Mantle of Intelligence x2	Circlet x2	Iron Branch x2	Observer Ward
Item Icon

Also, ask your Support for a Tango. With these items, your next goal is to earn enough gold to buy the following artifacts:

Item Name	Null Talisman x2	Hand of Midas	Rod of Atos	Boots of Travel
Item Icon

Mid-Game

The Mid-Game phase will show whether you’ve chosen the right strategy for playing Invoker. This is the time for your active participation in team fights. However, if you and your allies aren’t strong enough to withstand the enemy team, it’s better to focus on eliminating single targets. Additionally, don’t forget about Invoker's pushing potential and use it to destroy the towers across the lanes.

To make your hero stronger, consider buying some of the following items:

Item Name	Aghanim's Scepter	Aghanim's Shard	Gleipnir	Linken's Sphere
Item Icon

Late Game

The Late Game is the phase during which you must finally unleash Invoker’s potential, turning him into a dangerous hero capable of standing against multiple opponents at once. However, it’s almost always better to fight alongside your teammates, since your chances of entering the enemy's high ground will be stronger.

The best items to purchase during this phase include:

Item Name	Refresher Orb	Scythe of Vyse	Arcane Blink	Black King Bar
Item Icon

Tips and Tricks for Playing Invoker

Although now you know how to play Invoker, understanding the fundamentals alone is not enough to play like legendary players Miracle- or Topson. Fortunately, you can improve by following these tips:

1. Train your memory: Learn all the spells by practicing them daily in real matches and online training platforms.
2. Optimize your hotkeys: Yeah, playing Invoker turns you into a kind of pianist, so ensure that your keyboard offers the best layout for swift and accurate switching between spells.
3. Prepare beforehand: Don’t rush into the fight without a plan. Prepare two spells that you want to use, check cooldowns, plan your next moves, and only then commit to the engagement.

Heroes Invoker Works Well With

Invoker in Dota synergizes with almost any ally. However, there are some heroes who are especially effective alongside Carl:

1. Legion Commander;
2. Void;
3. Tiny;
4. Troll Warlord;
5. Clockwerk.

Conclusion

Now, you know everything about Invoker in Dota 2. Although learning to play this hero requires deep game knowledge, fast reactions, and excellent memory, overcoming this challenge can significantly boost your rank. Invoker remains one of the few heroes in Dota capable of defeating an entire enemy team single-handedly when played correctly.