Kael the Invoker Spell Guide
Invoker has 4 basic spells. Quas, Wex, Exort and Invoke. If you didn’t figure it out so far, then notice that the hotkeys are as follows: Q, W, E, R. Right in order on your keyboard, which makes it so much easier to remember and do in a fast situation. Quas, Wex and Exort is considered as 3 elements. Frost, lightning and fire. Invoker can have 3 balls floating around him boosting his damage, hp regen or attack- and movement speed. Frostballs, lightning balls and fireballs. He can decide by himself which 3 he wants though he can only have 3. He can e.g. have 2 fireballs and 1 lightning ball (2 Exort and 1 Wex - or in other words EEW). He can also have 3 fireballs (3 Exorts - EEE) or one of each (1 Quas, 1 Wex and 1 Exort - QWE). The combination difference you put them in doesn’t matter. There’s no difference between [QWE] or [EQW]. Neither is there any difference between [EEQ] or [EQE]. The only difference(s) is [QQQ] and [QQE] or [QQE] and [WWQ]. It doesn’t matter which element comes first, second or third.
Invoker uses his ultimate Invoke to create a spell. The spell he creates is determined by which balls of elements which floats around him in the moment he invokes. The power of the spell is determined by the level of the elements. If you want to convert Chaos Meteor [EEQ], you need to summon 2 Exorts and 1 Wex and then invoke them to Chaos Meteor. Your level of Exort and Wex then determines how much the meteor damages and how far it rolls. The numbers or combination of elements floating around does not affect the power of your spells at all. Having 3 Exorts around you doesn’t make your Sun Strike [EEE] any stronger. Having your Exort level 5 instead of level 4 does though. Sun Strike doesn’t deal any less damage if you have 3 Wexes around you instead of 3 Exorts.
You can have 2 spells invoked at the same time. Each spell has, of course, their own separate cooldowns. That means, obviously, that you can cast both spells at the same time, one after another. If you then choose to Invoke another spell, you can also throw that one right away. The previous spells’ cooldowns will still be running and cannot be used again before e.g. 60 seconds. Let’s say you invoke Tornado [WWQ] and Defeaning Blast [QWE]. You use them both and both of them goes on cooldown. You can then invoke EMP [WWE] and use that right away. If you 15 seconds later invoke back Tornado [WWQ] it will still have about 10 seconds cooldown left (25 seconds to start with - 15 seconds before you invoke it back). So basically you can throw all the spells you want, but they still run their cooldown. Just because you dismissed them from your spell sheet doesn’t meet their cooldowns reset.
In the following sections you will find information, calculations and different sheets about the different spells.
Quas
Quas
0.75 HP regen per level per instance.
Quas is hardly only good in the early game to give you a free Ring of Regeneration. It’s not particular a heal like Mekansm or Death Pulse, but a normal regen like rings and tangoes. Thus it can almost never be used to survive ganks. It should be used to nullify lane harassing when you’re not last hitting creeps with Exort.
Cold Snap [QQQ]: Lasts up to 6 seconds based on Quas. Triggers cooldown goes from 0.8 to 0.6 seconds based on Quas.
Ghost Walk [QQW]: Slows nearby enemies by up to 40% based on Quas.
Ice Wall [QQE]: Lasts up to 10 seconds based on Quas. Slows nearby enemies based on Quas.
Tornado [WWQ]: Deals 375 damage based on Wex and Quas. Holds enemies in the air for up to 2.2 seconds based on Quas.
Forge Spirit [EEQ]: Mana, duration, and armor is based on Quas. By maxing Quas and Exort, Invoker is capable of creating 2 spirits instead of 1.
Defeaning Blast [QWE]: Knocks enemy units back for a maximum of 1.75 seconds based on Quas.
As you can see, Quas is basically about stunning or slowing. In one case it’s about damage though and another it’s about mana/duration/armor. As I said in my skill explanation, disables are good, but early game/middle game damage is often more important.
Wex
Wex
Gives 2% AS and 1% MS per level per instance.
Alacrity [WWW]: Increases attack speed to a maximum of 160% based on Wex
Tornado [WWQ]: Deals 375 damage based on Wex and Quas. Increases the distance up to 3100 based on Wex.
EMP [WWE]: Detonates after 2-4 seconds based on Wex. Drains up to 400 mana based on Wex.
Ghost Walk [QQW]: Slows Invoker from 30 to 0% based on Wex.
Chaos Meteor [EEQ]: Increases the distance up to 1550 based on Wex.
Defeaning Blast [QWE]: Prevents attacks for 1-4 seconds based on Wex.
Wex varies in terms of what it does. Most important is to make your spells reach longer (Tornado, Chaos Meteor) because it means they have a bigger aoe. After all Invoker is mainly an aoe power house, so if he can cover a larger area it basically means he can deal more damage. Mana burn and physical silence aren’t bad either. Later in the game, attack speed and preventing physical damage is a big deal in team fights.
Exort
Exort
3 damage per level per instance.
Sun Strike [EEE]: Deals 75-450 damage based on Exort.
Forge Spirit [EEQ]: Attack range, damage and life is based on Exort. By maxing Quas and Exort, Invoker is capable of creating 2 spirits instead of 1.
Chaos Meteor[EEW]: Deals up to 260 damage per second based on Exort.
Ice Wall [QQE]: Deals up to 30 damage each second based on Exort.
EMP [WWE]: Deals up to 300 damage based on Exort.
Defeaning Blast [QWE]: Deals up to 280 damage based on Exort.
Damage, damage damage… Exort is all about the damage. That’s also why it’s maxed as quickly as possible. You’re a power house aoe hero like Leshrac and you need to deal damage. Without that you’re not much.
Cold Snap
Cold Snap [QQQ] - [Y]
Invoker draws the heat from an enemy, chilling them to their very core for up to 6 seconds based on Quas. Any damage taken in this state will briefly stun them for 0.4 seconds and deal 30 damage.
Triggers cooldown goes from 0.8 to 0.6 seconds based on Quas.
Cold Snap can be considered an Enigma stun (Malefice) as it stuns its target multiple times during the 6 seconds. The only difference is that it requires units to hit it. Thus, obviously, makes it really good when your team focuses a hero. This hero can easily be stunlocked and for each hit it wll take a devastating +30 damage, which is quite a lot. Cold Snap is really good when your team decides to focus one and thus it should be used on this hero. It only becomes really effective though after Quas is in a high level. 3 seconds duration isn’t much and you barely get a chance to hit the target. Quas is, for this spell, basically needed for the duration and not so much for the trigger reduce. In fact, as you can see, the trigger gets reduced with a lousy 1/30 second per level of Quas.
Alacrity
Alacrity [WWW] - [Z]
Invoker infuses an ally with an immense surge of energy, increasing their attack speed to a maximum of 160% based on Wex for 5 seconds.
Alacrity is a very effective spell, especially for your carry heroes that have a lot of damage but perhaps lack a bit attack speed. It’s also very good for your chain bashers like Troll Warlord, Faceless Void or Slardar. In fact, it’s just very good for all your heroes that need to get as many physical shots in as possible. However, the big downside is its duration. 5 seconds is nothing and barely makes any difference. It doesn’t make it bad, but it makes it rather questionable about is reliability, especially earlier in the game. I’d suggest you use it later in the game on your strongest carry hero and first in the middle of the combat, not in the start as you (he) will just waste the duration time.
Sun Strike
Sun Strike [EEE] - [T]
Sends a catastrophic ray of fierce energy from the sun at any targeted location after a 1.7 second delay, incinerating all enemies standing beneath it. Deals 75-450 damage based on Exort which is spread over all enemy units within its 200 AoE.
Sun Strike will be your main “killstealing” spell during most of the early game and middle game. It has the exact same purpose as Zeus’ ultimate but has the downside that it’s 1000 times harder to use. It’s grounded targeted and has a 1,7 second delay so you have to be a step ahead of your target and know what he’s going to do and where he’s going to run. In addition you have to be aware that you should only hit your target. As soon as you hit more targets with your Sun Strike, the damage will be split. So don’t cast it in the middle of a creep wave to finish your enemy. This is doubtless Invoker’s hardest spell to use, but it can be extremely effective if you can aim it correctly. You can easily get a few kills during the early game and even later too on unknowing, low healthed enemies. Sun Strike also reveals the location you’re aiming at for a brief duration and first when the beam comes. You don’t gain vision of the area while the ray is “charging”.
Mirana is on low health, so I decide to kill him with my Sun Strike. Judging by his movement speed and movement direction, I’ll hopefully hit him at the cross. Luckily I do and I get an easy kill at level 7. The key to use Sun Strike is practice. You will not always hit with it, and you will not always finish your opponent with it if you do. Just use it on occasions and hope you score an easy frag.
Ghost Walk
Ghost Walk [QQW] - [V]
Invoker manipulates the ice and electrical energies around him, rendering his body invisible. The elemental imbalance created as a consequence slows nearby enemies by up to 40% based on Quas, and Invoker from 30 to 0% based on Wex.
Ghost Walk is your primary escape mechanism. As you see it will slow both your enemies around you and yourself. Basically you don’t have to worry about the self-slow. Your enemies can’t see you, so it doesn’t really matter that you run a bit slower. If they, however, have true sight running faster would probably not help you in getting away.
Some people claim that Ghost Walk so good to activate in a teamcombat and then run around among your opponents crippling them while your team mates beat on them. My argument is that Invoker has more important things to do. First of all, Ice Wall is a ten times better slow, also due to the fact that it’s not moving. Second of all, throwing your abilities like Tornado, Defeaning Blast, Chaos Meteor and EMP is much more important than just running around net to your enemies. Thus makes Ghost Walk to almost a pure escape mechanism or “sneak and kill” ability, just like any other Windwalk abilities. The offensive slow is only an additional buff that might make it easier to not just stay safe in e.g. a gank, but also to run near your target on low health while your allies kill him.
It’s easy to spot an invislble Invoker around you. First of all you will move much slower and ice shards appear on your hero. Second of all they get a directly “Ghost Walk” debuff. So don’t think you can just surprise attack an enemy like Stealth Assassin, Bounty Hunter or Nerubian Assassin.
Ice Wall
Ice Wall [QQE] - [G]
Generates a wall of solid ice directly in front of Invoker for up to 10 seconds. The bitter cold emanating from it greatly slows nearby enemies based on Quas and deals up to 30 damage each second based on Exort.
Ice Wall has the most terrible damage (30 damage per second after 7 Exorts is nothing), but the slow is arguably the best in the game. Its length and range is actually bigger than you’d think and already after a level 4 Quas, all enemies who step in it will have their movement speed reduced to minimum (100). If your team is good at initiating, or they have a lot of heroes who needs to beat directly on your opponents (Ursa Warrior, Faceless Void and Troll Warlord for instance), Ice Wall can be so devastating that your enemies will cry themselves to sleep when they go to bed. Just by running directly pass the wall can take about 5-6 seconds.
Basically you’d like to cover as large an area with the wall as possible. It’s even better if you can cut off escape routes and otherwise. Here’s a classic example of a team fight position with Scourge attacking Sentinel’s 2nd middle tower.
Basically, there’s three main ways to use Ice Wall:
- Block the road and hereby “force” your enemies to either run through the Ice Wall or take a long way round to fight you.
- Cross the wall with the battlefront line. Instead of making it follow it, make it cross it slightly thus covering a slightly larger area.
- Use the wall to separate the teams. Quickly run up to the front and put up the wall. The enemies will either have to stay back and let you take a tower or run directly into it and get crippled. Just like in this picture.
Conclusion; try, if possible, to block the exits/entrances with the wall. Also try to not make it follow the battlefront but make it a little diagonal so it covers a bigger area.
Tornado
Tornado [WWQ] - [X]
Unleashes a fast moving tornado that picks up enemy units in its path, suspending them helplessly in the air shortly before allowing them to plummet to their doom. Deals 375 damage based on Wex and Quas, with distance up to 3100 based on Wex. Holds enemies in the air for up to 2.2 seconds based on Quas.
Tornado is a really strong disable with long distance, fast speed and high damage. However, the downside is that it takes a rather high level to max. Whether you skill Wex or Quas doesn’t affect the damage difference. Each skill point in either of them increases the damage done by 15. That means damagewise Quas is not better than Wex, nor is Wex better than Quas.
Tornado is mostly used in the start for its damage and its interrupt against e.g. town portals and channeled spells like Freezing Field. The disable based on Quas comes later in the game where the damage becomes more negligible. Tornado can be landed really well if mixed with EMP, but we’ll get to that later.
Sniper is about to escape on the opposite site of the river, but with a high level of both Quas and Wex I can throw and hit him with my Tornado easily giving my teammate Mirana enough time to run in and kill him. This is a very good example on how to capture fleeing enemies giving you enough time to catch up him them.
EMP
EMP [WWE] - [C]
Invoker builds up a charge of electromagnetic energy at a targeted location which automatically detonates after 2-4 seconds based on Wex. The detonation covers a 700 area, dealing up to 300 damage based on Exort and draining up to 400 mana based on Wex.
This is a spell that takes time to build up, thought it has no cast time and it’s not a channeled effect. 700 AoE is rather large so don’t be afraid that it won’t hit almost everyone in team combats. You just have to disable your enemies first so they don’t run away from it. This spell is not very useful in ganks though because they will just easily run away from it rather than splitting up in a team combat. The mana burn is also pretty nice, especially against strength casters and other heroes that turn the tide of a combat by using spells.
Forge Spirit
Forge Spirit [EEQ] - [F]
Invoker forges a spirit embodying the strength of fire and fortitude of ice. Attack range, damage and life is based on Exort while mana, duration, and armor is based on Quas. The elementals scorching attack is capable of melting the armor on enemy heroes by 1 each hit to a maximum of 10 for 5 seconds. By maxing Quas and Exort, Invoker is capable of creating 2 spirits instead of 1.
The Forged Spirits are pretty much worthless during the early game. They’ve got low armor, low mana, low duration, low damage… Low everything. But towards the late game, they’re really great for amplifying heroes, especially in team combats. When a big fight takes place, not many cares about the spirit(s) thus allowing them to hit and burn your enemies’ armor, which is the most important part of this ability. Use this ability later when you’ve begun to take some levels in Quas. I don’t recommend you to use it during the early game. Not for harassing, nor for ganking or anything else.
Chaos Meteor
Chaos Meteor [EEW] - [D]
Invoker pulls a flaming meteor from space onto the targeted location. Upon landing, the meteor rolls forward dealing up to 260 damage per second based on Exort for up to 1550 range based on Wex. Deals minor residual damage to units that get hit.
Chaos Meteor deals a whole lot of damage. In fact it’s the only thing it does. But 260 damage per second is nothing to joke about. Most heroes will stand in it for 1-2 seconds and take 520 damage from the meteor itself. They will then burn for about 26 damage per tick, which happens about 4 times per second. Totally, a hero will take around 600 damage by standing 2 seconds in the Chaos Meteor. Imagine that in a team combat. That’s just as good, and perhaps even better than Queen of Pain’s Sonic Wave. However, it isn’t as reliable though.
The meteor works like this. You throw it at a target location. After about 0,5 second a meteor falls from the sky and starts rolling in the direction you casted it, just like Shockwave or Meat Hook for instance. The best thing is therefore to try and hit your enemies’ movement direction (if possible) so they follow the meteor’s rolling path for as long as possible.
As a last comment, please note that the meteor gives you sight so you can roll it over cliffs and trees to gain vision for a brief period. It doesn’t destroy trees though so don’t think you can roll it over a bunch of trees to clear your path.
Defeaning Blast
Defeaning Blast [QWE] - [B]
Invoker unleashes a mighty sonic wave in front of him, dealing up to 280 damage to any enemy unit it collides with based on Exort. The sheer impact from the blast is enough to knock those enemy units back for a maximum of 1.75 seconds based on Quas, in addition to preventing their attacks for a further 1-4 seconds based on Wex.
I’d like to consider this as your “real” ultimate as it covers both Quas, Wex and Exort. It’s definatly a strong spell, not in terms of damage, but in terms of what it does. As it states, it knocks back the targets just the same way as Spiritbreaker’s Greater Bash. After that, it also silences the affected targets. It doesn’t, however, silence spell casting but instead it silences physical damage. It “removes” its targets’ ability to attack. So if an enemy has a really strong carry hero like Phantom Assassin, Chaos Knight or Razor you can disable their main damage output for an extreme amount of 4 seconds. The downside about this spell, however, is that it requires a lot of skills in both Quas, Wex and Exort, mainly Quas and Wex though because the damage from the Defeaning Blast doesn’t matter too much.
Spell combinations
I see Mirana standing perfectly for my Chaos Meteor + Cold Snap combo. As you can see, I activate Cold Snap and throw my meteor on her. As well as hitting her a few times myself, she takes lots of damage from the meteor, me and the Cold Snap stuns. She manages to Leap away and escape with nearly no health though. Too bad for her I’ve already aimed my Sun Strike perfectly to finish her off. Notice how much damage she took though and she even tryed to run away from the meteor, not along it.
Mirana stands near the tower we are attacking. With a handy manoeuvre, I throw my Chaos Meteor and push her along it with my Defeaning Blast, leaving her not only stunned inside it but also making her follow it for a moment. The meteor is too much damage for her and she dies quickly from the rock.
- The key to controlling Kael is knowing and memorizing his hotkeys. The basics, Quas (Q), Wex (W), Exort (E) and Invoke ® are pretty simple. It gets more complicated though when you have to memorize not only the spells’ elemental combinations but also their hotkeys. In despite of that, learn them and memorize them.
- Use 3 Quases to neutralize early game harass or damage over time spells like poisons and Battle Hunger. Don’t use it to neutralize burst damage or disables.
- Use 3 Wexes when you need to travel somewhere by foot.
- Use 3 Exorts to damage, farm and last hit. Don’t use it as a damage device if you’ve skilled Quas and Wex though.
- Always use either 3 Quases, 3 Wexes or 3 Exorts. Do never use 2 or 1 of each.
- Don’t use Ghost Walk offensively. Even in despite of its offensive slow you will use it to escape at some point, so don’t waste the cooldown of it because you wanted to slow an enemy without being seen.
- People can see when you sneak up at them with Ghost Walk. They get a slowing debuff aswell as an icy animation. Don’t think you can surprise attack your target by sneaking up and appearing right behind him.
- Sun Strike can be used once in a while to check certain spots. For example a potential gank or a Roshan attempt.
- At level 5 you can use 2 spells and at level 10 and 15 you can use 3. You can have 1 or 2 invoked and ready to activate. When you’ve done so, you can quickly invoke another ability and use that. At level 20 it doesn’t really matter because the cooldown of Invoke is so low.
Heroes to watch out for
Silencers
It’s pretty simple. Silence makes you unable to cast spells. With Exort you can still deal a decent amount of single target damage, but your main source and main threat is your abilities. Get silenced and forget everything about disables, meteors and the other sweet stuff.
This includes Silencer, Death Prophet, Drow Ranger, Faerie Dragon and even Orchid Malevolence.
Burst damage heroes
Heroes with strong burst damage is in general dangerous to everybody, but especially you. Especially if they have a disable such as Impale or Lightning Strike Array, invoking and escaping with Ghost Walk can be pretty tough. Your low health pool makes it hard to survive a backstab during the early game and middle game thus making you quite fragile for heroes like Slayer, Nerubian Assassin, Lich and Demon Witch.
Kael’s best friends
AoE disable initiators
Invoker’s spells are almost all about the aoe. Imagine your opponents can’t move from the Chaos Meteor, Tornado, EMP, Defeaning Blast and in fact just all your other abilities. Heroes like Treant Protector, Tidehunter, Magnataur and even Warlock makes it a game to throw your deadly abilities perfectly.
Epilogue
We have reached the end. I hope you are still awake after reading my minor novel. Hopefully, you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to ask of what your heart desires and I will try to answer your questions as good as possible.
Again, thanks a lot for reading this.
Ingolf
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