How to play Invoker in Dota 2 patch 7.34

Dota 2 patch 7.34 changed Invoker dramatically. The hero is now a bit weaker in the laning stage but turns into a late-game monster thanks to the percentage-based bonuses of his orbs.

Understanding the changes is crucial if you want to succeed with this hero. At the community level, Invoker currently appears in roughly 20% of all games and has a win rate of 52.5%, which is very good relative to previous patches.

Invoker’s new orbs

Invoker has three orbs that can be combined to invoke powerful spells. These orbs are called Quas, Wex, and Exort, and the order in which you maximize them has a huge impact on your effectiveness.

Arguably, because Invoker no longer has the natural HP regen provided by Quas, nor the damage provided by Exort, players need to come up with a way of playing the hero that’s sustainable. Otherwise, you’ll quickly run out of HP or mana and you’ll have trouble last-hitting.

Another big challenge for the new Invoker is to increase the damage output enough to not get destroyed in the lane by the opposing mid player.

Quas now gives you spell lifesteal, which isn’t very useful in the first 10 minutes of the game. Wex gives you a significant cooldown reduction, while Exort gives you spell amplification. Arguably, the most useful of the three bonuses is the cooldown reduction. But Invoker’s damage spells require you to maximize Exort and Quas.

Given the current state of the hero and the meta, a Quas Wex Invoker works much better than any other combination, at least in the laning phase.

Abilities and Items

When you play Invoker, what you need to do in the first 10 minutes is to utilize at all times three abilities: Forge Spirit, Alacrity, and Cold Snap. These abilities will give you all the damage and HP regen you need to be competitive against almost any other mid hero.

Invoker’s items should be chosen carefully. It all depends on how you want to play the hero. The combination that seems to have the highest potential is one that employs items like Phase Boots, Rod of Atos, and Blink Dagger. Dragon Lance is also a great choice if you go for a right-click build.

If you want to have extra mobility, don’t buy Phase Boots. Wait until you have enough gold for your Boots of Travel. But keep in mind that you’ll need some sustainability items as well.

Header: Valve Corporation