The Distilled Guild to Kael, the Invoker (aka voke, voker, Kal-El)

Introduction

This guide is divided into two parts: 1) Skill builds, and 2) Item builds. I don’t want to bore you with lots of text so my aim is to keep this as concise as possible.

Part I – Skill builds
** Invoke should be taken WHENEVER POSSIBLE (2or3, 7, 12, 17) **
** EXORT should ALWAYS BE TAKEN AT LEVEL 1 (imo) **

There are few clear cut rules when it comes to skill building invoker. Following my advice will help you establish an understanding and eventually you can learn to adapt it on the fly. Therefore, what I’m about to present should be considered as a foundation and not treated as a strict boundary.
Knowing what skill build to use may seem overwhelming at first, but it is actually quite simple and one can learn to identify the correct path after playing just a few games.
We need to break up the various important measures (allied and enemy):

Allied measures (starting with the most important)
- Combos / synergies (situational. generally favors WEX but can favor the others as well)
- Allies mid-game proficiency (favors QUAS, WEX… think support)
- Allies mid-game suckability (favors EXORT in order to… maintain order?)
- Stuns / fixers (favors EXORT… keep them in place while I rollol my meteor on them)
- Range allies (favors QUAS)

Enemy measures (starting with the most important)
- Stuns (favors WEX by buffering things out)
- Blinkers / Jumpers (favors WEX… same reason as above)
- Melee meatiness (favors QUAS for control)
- Windwalking / Invisibility (favors WEX since you need MS, Blast for attack silence, and EMP among other benefits)
- Carries (favors EXORT… you want to gank their carries and win those crucial early team battles where a lot of damage is usually dealt on both sides)
I will let you discover the combos / synergies on your own. I will list a few at the end. Actually, no I won't... let's continue.

WEX is the safest bet of them all. This is because it is the most versatile and supports your team the most. 3Q, 1E, 3 WEX OR 1Q, 3E, 3 WEX are both great openers. One lets you benefit from the HP regen of QUAS and improves tornado / cold snap, while the other allows you to have strong alacrity / meteor / sun strike / forged spirits (which especially helps in team fights).

** If WEX is the first orb finished, you generally want to finish QUAS next (imo) **

As you can see, EXORT is strongly dependent on how bad both your allies AND/OR the enemy can cope with mid-game. However, sometimes a strong enemy mid-game warrants getting WEX or even QUAS instead. You really want to take advantage of the magnificent damage meteor, alacrity can dish out. This will help your carries farm and put the enemy on tilt.

Going straight up QUAS is good when you are NOT the only range hero (unless u got ursa or troll) and the enemy is heavy on the melee / tank end of the spectrum. If you are gonna go WEX, getting 2-3 points in QUAS is also godly for HP regen / staying out longer from base. If you are, soloing an annoying nuker and don’t want to spend money on tangos/slaves, I suggest going 1, 1, 3 QUAS (then choose your path). I would advise NOT getting QUAS when the enemy can blink a lot as it counters icewall. Also, if you think a lot of the enemy is getting BKB, then AVOID QUAS.

Part II – Item builds

If I could choose 3 decked out builds, one representing each Orb, they would be (I’ll try to be reasonable):

QUAS: Blink dagger, Necromonicon, Sheep, [Gem / Mekansm / Shivas / Dagon], Travels, Aghanim’s

WEX: Refresher, Sheep, Euls, [Gem / Mekansm / Shivas / Dagon], Travels, Aghanim’s

EXORT: Satanic, Linken’s, Buriza, [Sheep / Skaadi / MKB / Armor item], Treads, Aghanim’s

The above is obviously subject to question. You do not want to go half mage / half damage... that's bad synergy. However, if you could start the game fully decked out with one of those 3 builds, those would be the ones I would pick.

Go any of these builds in a pub game and I guarantee you will have fun (if they don’t leave early).
Ok, back to reality: this is where things are complicated to explain. You have to know dota and learn good judgement. I can only help somewhat.

I always get magic stick (and usually upgrade to wand)
Aghanim’s is for sure the safest item to get. It sets you up well for later on in the game and gives you good stats.

I generally just get plain boots unless going EXORT (in which case I for sure get STR Treads).

Here are some items to AVOID: Hyperstone, Yasha, Sange, Diffusal blade, Basher, Battlefury, Armlet, Eaglehorn, Midas, Lothars*. I find these items to be just plain bad on invoker.
*Lothar’s could be made into a build, I think the enemy would have to be rather bad for it to work consistently well.

Here are some good items: Bracer, Veil (if going EXORT-METEOR or WEX-EMP), Gem (if going against annoying invis and you are WEX > QUAS), support items if you are going WEX or QUAS,
Bracer is good if you need a little more survivability and are going EXORT or QUAS builds.

Gem if you went WEX >= Quas > Exort (and there be-eth a clinkz about)

Soul ring is a possibility, but I never really tried it.

Ghost Scepter = NO. You have plenty of escape mechanisms. You are probably losing if you are considering this item.

Hood of defiance / pipe is good if you are going for Q=E > W build (forged spirits) and the enemy has a lot of aoe / nukes.

For EXORT heavy builds, consider mask of madness or helm of dominator for lifesteal + alacrity. Add crit to that and you can start 2-hitting (if lucky) the weaker heroes. Also consider MKB if up against PA or some kind of evasion (warning Backtrack is not evasion).

Necromonicon if going Q = E > W build for great synergy with Spirits.

Sheep is always welcome. Forcestaff is good. Orchids is situational.

Vanguard is debatable to I won’t comment lol.

Radiance is meh imo.

Bloodstone is kinda meh too.

So I’m all out of energy in writing this guide. But I hope you enjoyed it and learned a few things. The best way to learn is by playing and there are A HELL of a lot of invoker mechanics you gotta learn on your own. SO GET TO IT.

If you have questions / comments please leave them and I’ll do my best to help you (or ignore you if you troll).

Please take all the stuff above with a grain of salt. As I mentioned before, there are few strongly casted rules. There is a great deal of flexibility and leeway when it comes to voking it up. Explore, fail, learn, and then own. OWN THEM ALL. MEHEHAHHWHAWOOIIRWIRWAHFJDSKFJHDFJKDSQWERT-