In retrospect, screw midas on Invoker {mini-guide}.

So, exiting the arduous time of the year named university exams, I started playing some dota again. I mainly play Invoker for something like 3-4 years straight (fav. hero) so I wanted to get back on track and unrust the rusty ol' me.

Well, 34% winrate all of a sudden was more than a shock, since I could pretty much average around 70%+ some time ago, which also was lower from what I averaged on my better days. Well, what I mean is that I reached an all time low and that took me by surprise. I could not have gone that bad. Well I hadn't. It was the build. Specifically midas.

Therefore (and this is the point of this post), I'd like to share my thoughts regarding how Invoker works, farms and fights.

Since always, I was trying to spice up Invoker. Were you to give me a specific item, I would most likely manage to make a viable build out of it. Pretty hard to farm sure, but viable. Exceptions: 3 very specific (and very bad) items. In any case, Invoker currently has these drawbacks:

• A relatively small manapool when you consider the mana requirements
• Bad mana regeneration
• Low armor

During the minus armor meta (Slardar, etc), I would solve problem B and C by purchasing medallion for the price of 1175g. The benefits varied. Cheap, mana regeneration, 7 armor which more than doubled your current armor for a very long time into the game. Also, -7 armor to melt enemies and upgradeability to the OP Solar Crest (back then) and finally 2 very unique reasons. Ancient farming and sieging. With medallion you could farm ancients and later on with solar crest, you could send your forge spirits to hit t3 with solar crest and alacrity, while supporting with an infinite amount of tornados (if you remember my guide at the time for picking tornado, I mentioned this there).

Anyway, I had great success with the item back then. Not so much now (I pick it on occasions). Anyways, the point of me mentioning this is a mistake I figured out regarding farming Invoker. I always farmed the hero to the point of stupidity. At a time I averaged 700-800 gpm. Nowdays, not so much. Reason is, that farming neutrals is bad. Staying back and farming without helping your team is very, very bad in the current meta. What you get out of farming, is also very little in contrast to what others get for fighting. Midas is also extremely bad on most occasions.

Here's what it used to be. With Invoker you'd need XP and items. With XP and items, you were good to go. After some very painful nerfs (e.g deafening blast), Invoker lost initiative. Having your spells dodged with a gazillion of ways even from supports in the ultra late does not help. Therefore you need to go for it, early on, when it hurts the most and they are far behind items like the dreadful force staff. Certainly, it will not save you from facing those items, but it will allow you to proceed to the next stage of the game with a good gold/xp advantage, which is crucial.

Therefore midas is bad, for it stops you from fighting early. The xp it offers is also very little to make a point and honestly, habit seems to be the strongest reason to build it. So, regarding this, here's what I figured out that kicked me back to 80% wr. Note: On not so many games, but out of experience I can tell that it was not a fluke. The hero felt completely different and much, much stronger.

So, after a lot of trial and error, I figured that farming any camp other than ancients is leaning towards bad. Even large camps, if farmed let's say after 10 minutes and not when the enemy is dominating the lane due to a dd or a gank, is a waste of time and gold. In addition, the highest value comes straight from creep waves. I used to be a goody two shoes and leave easy farm to my carry and offlane, while I could farm the neutrals with ease and safety (ok, I also wanted to be them that die to a gank deep inside and not me). This is a huge mistake. Never, ever leave lane farm for anything but kills or safety when everyone's missing.

Regarding that, here's what I usually do (in steps), when timer hits ~10m:

Preparation

• Get a medallion, or go straight into aghanim's after some basic stat items. Avoid second null or wand unless they are necessary.

Execution

• Farm the wave as quickly as possible.
• Check for kill potential
• IF none, proceed to ancient camp A
• Return to farm the second wave (2 each minute) as fast as possible.
• Check for kill potential
• IF none, proceed to ancient camp B and farm it hopefully twice.

How to boost that execution

• Mobility items like wind lace.
• No lollygagging
• To jump between ancient camps and lane and manage to farm all 3, you need a medallion. Otherwise make peace with 1 camp and keep TPs to rotate between lanes. Good thing however, most of everything happens where you are at.
• Avoid using alacrity during the lane.
• Keep a clarity.
• Do not commit with stupid, non meaningful sunstrikes.
• Learn how to use the shrines.
• Focus on not getting denied and on denying. XP is crucial to get those fast early levels so that you can actually kill the ancients.
• Learn how to play around alacrity's cooldown. What I do is cast alacrity when creeps reach the t1 tower (not when they collide), so when I rush to the camp I have alacrity available again. So, I cast alacrity, I instantly medallion a melee creep, kill it then kill the mage in two hits and kill the rest before alacrity runs out.

Applying the I need to farm large camp and medium camp to this, you can see how impossible it is due to mana requirements (alacrity/forge) and lack of time. I guess you could swap 1 ancient camp for the 2 camps on the radiant side, but it won't offer as much. It also draws you away from the center of the map, whereas ancients are on vital spots to grab runes, quickly make a transition to a fight. See it like chess, you dominate the middle of the board, living off to what it is (lane creeps, ancients) and if something comes around, you quickly grab that too with a combo or two. Never, ever put yourself into the jungle for no serious reason. It makes you a non threat and the farm you get is very little.

That's some thoughts I had regarding Invoker now, I hope I helped some people. 🙂