In this guide, I'll show you how to play one of the best supporters ever created - Io, the Guardian Wisp.
First of all, there is no build that'll work great in all situations. Hero build must be flexible and because of that, I'll focus on the strategies and justifications.
With this knowledge at hand, you should be able to "improvise" a suitable build if the game takes the turn for the worst.
I recommend reading the whole guide carefully instead of the miniguide to realize the immense power of Io.
Notes:
For those who didn't notice, the miniguide is up there, in the guide's header.
I am not a native English speaker, if you found any errors, please PM me. This is my second guide.
The guide is designed to be Concise. There are expansions (marked by ▼) that allow this guide to achieve "near" complete status. Only view them if you really need to.
Two replays were attached to this guide. The first one is the Ganker replay and the second one is the Support replay. Slightly different playstyle, same build. Switch to forum view to download them.
Before jumping to suggestion/complaint, I suggest you to read the whole thing carefully. I hate being bashed with things I've already accounted for.
Io
Guardian Wisp
Banned in Captain mode
Support:
High
Gank:
Normal
Carry:
Low
Tether
Hotkey: T
Spirits
Hotkey: W
Overcharge
Hotkey: V
Relocate
Hotkey: R
Affiliation:
Sentinel
Attack Animation:
0.15/0.4
Damage:
43-52
Casting Animation:
0.001/0
Armour:
0
Base Attack Time:
1.7
Movespeed:
295
Missile Speed:
1600
Attack Range:
575
Sight Range:
1800/800
Strength
Agility
Intelligence
17 + 1.9
14 + 1.6
23 + 1.7
Although Io is a Strength hero, he has very low Strength and high Intelligent as if he was an Intelligent hero.
His greatest strength but also his greatest weakness is his allies. Io has the power to increase his allies' mobility and survivability to an insane level but he loses this power when isolated.
No doubt he got excellent firepower from Spirits but this doesn't make Io a ganker, he needs his allies to help him achieve that.
Enemies will try to focus Io because of his softness but they didn't know what a wisp can do when cornered!
Io tethers himself to an allied unit, granting both units bonus movement speed. Any enemy units that contact the tether will be stunned. The tether will break if it stretches beyond 900 units. Lasts 12 seconds.
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Cost
Cooldown
Range
AOE
Duration
Effects
1
40
12
1800
900
12/0.75 second *
20% ms bonus
2
40
12
1800
900
12/1.25 second *
20% ms bonus
3
40
12
1800
900
12/1.75 second *
20% ms bonus
4
40
12
1800
900
12/2.25 second *
20% ms bonus
Notes
(*) Tether duration/stun duration
If you try to tether a unit that is 700 distance or further away from Io, he will latch on and pull himself closer to the tethered unit (to a distance of 300).
The tethered unit will benefit from Overcharge, Relocate, and from Io regenerating HP/mana.
The following HP or mana gain will not be transferred: Io activating Armlet, Io gaining more than 50% of his HP or mana in less than 0.02s.
Has a sub ability that lets you break the tether.
Effects table
Effects
Usages
Changes per level
Notes
MS bonus
Escape
N/A
Cannot target magic immune but can effect magic immune and mechanical units
Stun
Disable
+0.5s
Does not re-stun
Transfer
Support
N/A
Does not transfer back to Io and does not transfer degen.
Self-Pull
Position
N/A
Io still take damage during this effect
Expansion ▼
The bread and butter skill of Io, it's the ultimate multi-purpose tool and extremely spammable.
#1: Haste
Io's movespeed (295) with Tether (no Boots, Aura, Haste, etc) is 354
Luna's movespeed (330) with Tether is 396 (what the...???)
When Io tethered with an ally, they both get 20% MS bonus. As you can see, with Boot of Speed and Tether, you can easily surpass 400 MS, amazing right?
#2: Regenerate
Io's Regenerations from items, spells and stats will transfer to Io's partner during Tether's duration. How it works? Well, any HP/MP Io gains while Tethering will transfer to his partner.
This means:
Can heal up to 1/4 of Io's max HP for any ally with Heart active. Since he's going to stay back, an ally will be able to get this heal while in team clash.
Double the effectiveness of AOE heals for an ally. 500 HP instant heal in Mek case ().
Single heals now heal two heroes at once.
#3: Position
Let's me enlight you with this table
Stats
Range
700 to 1800
100 to 1200
Combat
Compatible
Not compatible
Manacost
50 MP
75 MP
Cooldown
12 seconds
14 seconds
Price
Free
2150
Its usage? Escape, Rescue, Support, Gank, Quick travel, etc...you name it
#4: Disable
A picture worth a thousand words.
Yes he CAN stun unit behind him (in a small AOE)
Works great with blinkers and invisible heroes. 100% chance of landing a stun
Doubt how powerful Tether is? Check out the following example
Only 2 Spirits Lvl 4 accounted for 200 damage + 2.25s stun in comparison with 210 damage + 3s stun of Overgrowth Lvl 1 (210 damage). This is what make Spirits and Tether combo so deadly.
Ability:
Active
Targeting:
Instant
Hotkey:
W
Io summons 5 ancient Spirits over the course of 4 seconds; the Spirits dance around Io in a circle to protect him. If an enemy hero moves close enough to touch a Spirit, the Spirit releases its life energy in a burst, damaging all enemies in a 300 area of effect. Non hero units only take minor damage upon touching a spirit and do not cause them to explode.
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Cost
Cooldown
Range
AOE
Duration
Effects
1
120
20
N/A
300*
19 seconds
8/25** damage
2
130
18
N/A
300*
19 seconds
14/50** damage
3
140
16
N/A
300*
19 seconds
20/75** damage
4
150
14
N/A
300*
19 seconds
26/100** damage
Notes
(*) Area of Effect of the explosion
(**) Damage to creeps/heroes
Damage type: magical
Min/max Oscillation range: 100/875
You gain 2 sub abilities to control how far away from Io the spirits orbit.
Effects table
Effects
Usages
Changes per level
Notes
Spirit vision
Scout
N/A
Can be triggered by invisible heroes
AOE explosion
Gank
+25 damage
Can see units up to 1025 distance
Contact damage (Radiance)
Farm/Push
+6 damage
994 Damage in total (494 radiance, 500 explosion)
Low cooldown
Harrass
-2s
Explode remaining spirits when re-activated
Expansion ▼
Spirits is one of the most damaging-long-range-non-ultimate spells in DotA. Its massive damage and huge range are two noticeable effects. Press E to expand and D to contract, has zero cast animation.
Note that if you hit the same button twice, the contraction/expansion will stop and the Spirits will remain at that specific range.
#1: Scout
Spirits can only detect units within the contractible (red) ring. Note that the total coverage range of Spirits (blue) is much shorter than hero normal vision and it also gives away your position. The only advantage here is its all terrain nature and pseudo invisible detection.
#2: Harrass
Simple, yes? 1025 AOE is huge, 175 AOE less than Torrent but doesn't have a cast animation whatsoever. If they stay in range, they'll get hit, otherwise, no exp for them. Your high Int make spamming possible.
#3: Gank
Run after fleeing heroes, activate Spirits, if you managed to hit 1, you'll probably hit all 5. Note that Spirits' duration is longer than its cooldown, which means if your Spirits can last 14s you'll have 2 Spirits at your disposal.
Activate Spirits then Tether to "a unit" behind enemy target, Spirits one more time and get 1 Blink + 1000 unmissable AOE damage + 2.25s target practice + 20% bonus MS. It's better if that "a unit" is your carry (use heal + Overcharge too, in this case).
#4: Farm/Push
Spirits also deal minor damage over time to creeps and massive damage upon death. 26 damage might not sound much but it's equivalent to 2/3 damage of Radiance 1025 AOE and the burst damage is equal to Illuminate. This skill allows you to farm from a distance, avoid all sort of dangers while still be able to harrass enemy heroes.
Ability:
Toggle
Targeting:
Instant
Hotkey:
V
Io draws on more energy than he can safely handle, granting him bonus attack speed and damage reduction, but draining 2.5% of his current HP and MP per second. If Io is tethered to an ally the bonuses are also granted to that ally.
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Cost
Cooldown
Range
AOE
Duration
Effects
1
2.5% of current HP and MP
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
40 IAS, 5% damage reduction
2
2.5% of current HP and MP
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
50 IAS, 10% damage reduction
3
2.5% of current HP and MP
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
60 IAS, 15% damage reduction
4
2.5% of current HP and MP
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
70 IAS, 20% damage reduction
Notes
This bonus affects a tethered unit as well.
The hp/mana lost can't be reduced in any way.
The hp/mana loss is actually 0.5% in every 0.2 seconds, resulting in 2.4751256878125% loss per second
Effects table
Effects
Usages
Changes per level
Notes
IAS
Empower
+10 IAS
N/A
Damage prevention
Tank
+5% damage reduction
N/A
Degeneration
Enable Regen
N/A
Does not interrupt healing items and cannot kill Io
Expansion ▼
Overcharge has 3 main effect, IAS (Good), Degen (Bad) and Damage reduction, which was forgotten or underestimated from time to time.
#1: Escape
2.5% * Current HP = HP loss
The lower HP, the less HP you will lose every seconds. This means turning on Overcharge while low on HP actually INCREASE your chance of survival.
#2: Tank
5/10/15/20% of damage taken per second > 2.5% of current HP <=> damage taken per second > 50/25/16.67/12.5% of current HP
If (Damage taken per second > HP loss) then Damage reduction (Good)
If (Damage taken per second < HP loss) then Damage amplification (Bad)
This means when tanking: toggle Overcharge if there is a massive incoming damage (Finger of Death) and turn off while high on HP.
#3: Support (Rescue)
Damage reduction can be transfered via Tether
Next time you calculate the DPS taken, added the incoming DPS to your Tethered ally too. This can be used for rescue, Tether + Overcharge = Damage block + MS boost = Happy and ALIVE ally.
#4: Support (Enable Regeneration)
How is it possible? Well as mentioned in Tether's expansion, any HP/MP Io gains while Tethering will transfer to his partner. Thus, Io won't gain regen or transfer regen with FULL HP.
Bottle + Fountain + Tether + Overcharge = Rapid regeneration for a partner (in fountain area)
This is where Overcharge's Degeneration comes into play. Overcharge saps away Io's life force and enables regeneration, effectively helps transferring this extra regen to the Tethered partner.
Another usage ~~~ Just switch on Overcharge and your full HP problem (yeah, it is a problem XD) will go away.
Overcharge + Heart of Tarrasque = Continuous regeneration
#5: Empower
70 IAS ~ Hyperstone (55) + Power Tread (25)
Tether + Overcharge = Hyperstone for two, insane isn't it? Physical heroes would love you for sure. Use this in pushes or ganks, Tether + Overcharge + Seige unit = Tower Eater.
Ability:
Active
Targeting:
Ground
Hotkey:
R
Io temporarily relocates himself, along with any tethered hero, to the target location for 12 seconds.
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Cost
Cooldown
Range
AOE
Duration
Effects
1
100
90 seconds
Global
N/A
N/A
Teleport after 2.5 seconds
2
100
75 seconds
Global
N/A
N/A
Teleport after 2.25 seconds
3
100
60 seconds
Global
N/A
N/A
Teleport after 2 seconds
Notes
There is a casting delay and the enemy has visual indicators on the minimap at the target location before it happens.
If Io is disabled during the casting delay, Relocate will be cancelled.
If an allied hero is Tethered, that hero will be teleported along with you. You can break the tether at any time to prevent that hero from returning back with you.
The -disablehelp command will prevent an allied Io from teleporting your hero with this this ability.
Effects table
Effects
Usages
Changes per level
Notes
Teleport
Relocate/Gank
-15s cooldown
Return point appears where delay time is over
Return
Position/Decoy
N/A
Can be interrupted by Meat Hook
Cast delay
Rescue
-0.25s
Cannot be interrupted by Meat Hook
Visual Indicator
N/A
N/A
Visible to everyone
Expansion ▼
Relocate has 2 effect: Global teleport (Good) and return (depend on the situation).
List of skill that can really either make or ruin your day:
If you're using this to escape the return, make sure you timed it right. Too soon = no effect, too late = may be interrupted by hero damage. Allied only.
Allied only.
The triple threats, good if it was an ally, bad if it was an enemy.
#1: Global presence
Relocate Io and any Tethered hero to an explored location
With Relocate, anyone can become Furion, gankers and nukers are greatly benefit from this ability. Use this to ambush/chase preys or participate in clashes.
#2: Relocate
You can break the tether at any time to prevent that hero from returning back with you.
Needless to say, this skill allows an ally to "hitch a ride" to any destination, Fountain or Secret shop. It saves lots of time if used correctly.
#3: Escape
If Io is disabled during the casting delay, Relocate will be cancelled.
Watch out, you can afford to be disabled. Io should be running while the delay takes place if enemies were chasing. With good timing you can even save allies from across the globe, provided you won't get yourself killed in process.
Note that if you escaped with the 1st phase, you should be ready for the 2nd phase by:
Ask nearby allies to hide within Tether range (so that after returning, Tether --> smoke --> escape!)
Tether an ally who has a devastating-team-rape-combo (Magnus or Earthshaker should do the trick) and wipe out all waiting heroes. Here's the recipe: + + = RAMPAGE.
Turn on Spirits, 500 AOE damage is no joke, especially against clustered enemies.
Relocate to a nearby location in the 1st phase, distract waiting heroes and lure them away. Never work on smart players though.
Spend all your money. That's right, you have time, don't you?
#4: Push and Defend
Straight forward, stun and kill all creeps with Tether and Spirits.
#5: Decoy
First Relocate to a nearby location, then nonchalantly walk in and take all barrage of skills before Io vanishes into thin air. If you timed correctly, your foes will get the "wtf" moment as they've wasted all their skills on a ghost. Check the Support replay for example.
Comment: Yeah, my all time favorite skill build, this build provide Io with great killing power and area of effect presence.
Comment: This skill build greatly increase you supporting capability and an ally's Physical potential from an early stage.
Supporter semi ganker
Pure supporter build (Classic)
Take Tether first since it's extremely versatile and generally superior to all other skills (at level 1) in term of escape and gank.
Then, you can choose to max either Tether, for its disable power, or Spirits, for its incredible amount of damage.
500 damage from Spirits shouldn't be taken lightly at level 9 and 2.25 seconds AOE disable is certainly good in any case.
Relocate should be taken whenever possible to increase your global presence. The title "global ganker" is applied to Io as well.
Overcharge isn't a big deal in this build, skip Overcharge and take Attribute Bonus if you didn't use Io's support potential.
Tether should be taken first as always because it's Io's main support and escape tool.
Although it is not recommended but after level 1, if you don't need the added stun duration, you could skill Attribute Bonus instead of Tether to strengthen your defense.
Take one level of Spirits for scouting and intimidating purpose. This level of Spirits isn't important so you can take Overcharge if you think warding alone is enough.
Skill Relocate whenever possible, it turns Io into a global supporter, who pop out of no where and save "maidens in distress" .
Unlike the semi ganker build, Overcharge is the core of this build, it reaches its peak about level 9-10 when damage from Physical attacks became considerable.
Note: The classic build is a staple for Guardian Wisp before 6.72. After Ice Frog removed the slow from Spirits, it's somewhat inferior to the Supporter semi ganker build. Seriously, never use the classic build if there is no Physical Damage Dealer in your team or they are idiot.
Early game
The main goal of this phase is "Survival, Experience and Gold".
Did you choose the right lane? Io should always go with an ally, long or short lane, it's doesn't really matter. Since Io is a force to reckon on, it's usually for the best interest of the team to take long lane. Never, I repeat, NEVER go mid.
Who's your lane mate? You're so going with the carry. In case your carry chose to go mid, pair up with a disabler/ganker for first blood attempts.
What to do? In trilane, stay back and use Tether to get you in close range AFTER someone initiate the clash.
Share your healing with your allies and use Tether on them to hasten their movespeed (Duh!). If you're babysitting the carry, do everything you can to make sure he's alive and getting experience. As a supporter, you should focus on denying creeps, the gold is for the carry (though make sure you can get at least a Boot and a Magic Stick by 15').
Mid game
The main goal of this phase is "Gank, Clash and Ally".
What to do? Roaming. Yes, don't just farm idly, this is not the early game. After you get the Bottle, you can effectively support your team. Follow your allies and use Relocate wisely.
What does Io do before team clash? Before team clash, Io is the scout, using Spirits to check the surrounding area, keep your finger on T button if there is an ally in range or R button if you ventures to far away.
Where is Io position in team clash? Unfortunately, his position in team clash is the epic center. He's no doubt squishy but his skills are designed best use in close-and-personal confrontation. If your team were initiated, then support your main damage dealer (aka carry). Tether him, walk around the enemy, block their path and stun them while activating every healing items you got. Make sure to use Spirits while they were stunned.
Initiate or Decoy? If the initiator requires positioning and he didn't have Blink dagger, use Relocate. Sometimes, Io can be an excellent decoy, Relocate near the enemy team, pretending to walk carelessly and take all their skill. This technique requires a certain degree of practice and luck but it'll be a game breaker if you can pull it off. The return phase of Relocate cannot be broken by skills, with some exceptions (check Abilities>Relocate>Expansion).
Your allies' safety or yours? In this phase, it would be your allies' safety. That is you must Relocate him to Fountain and face certain death if necessary. But if you're being target while the ally isn't then save yourself. If you died too quickly, your friend will be next.
Late game
The main goal of this phase is "The carry, it's all about the carry".
What to do? STAY BACK or you'll die in seconds. Once the carry is in battle, fly in with Tether, stun the enemy, turn on Overcharge, activate heallings and watch the enemy suffer. Relocate is solely for your carry's sake at this stage.
Oh come on...just finish the game already...
First, this is only my humble analysis of these items. I'm not gonna enforce my build, especially item build, on anyone. Just do as you see fit and don't afraid to be different. A wise man (aka Steve Jobs ) once said "Stay hungry. Stay foolish". Ought to live up to that!
Without this, a single Relocate to Fountain cannot restore 100% health.
Every team needs ONE Mek, don't get this if someone else did. Smack the bastard who steal Mek from Io! Doesn't matter if your team had excellent coordination though.
Cheap yet useful item. A live saver from time to time.
Staple for all HEROES.
Another great item for Strength supporters like Io.
Dude, it's your job to buy the Chicken & Wards.
Expansion ▼
#1: Boots Comparison
The table divided Boots into 3 Tiers with decreasing priority from left to right.
Stats
MS boost
55
65
100
80 (55)
60
60
MS tethered
420
432
474
450 (420[1])
426
426 (494[2])
Effect
N/A
Replenish
Teleport
Rejuvenate
Attribute
Phase
Price
500
1500
2500
1025
1450
1400
[1]Damaged form of Tranquility Boot
[2]Phase activated
This boot has the highest priority because it's dirt CHEAP. The money you spend on its upgrade can be used to buy core items instead. Most of the time, Io and other supporters will choose to stick to the basic boot. The upgrade should only be made late game and in many cases, there WON'T be a late game because if you waste money and fail to support, you'll lose early, otherwise you'll win early.
The role of supporters in game is vital, they have to make the best effort to keep up with the increasing demands with MINIMAL resources. Thus, the basic boot is the best choice in many cases.
They're Category #2's Boots which means they're recommended should you choose to upgrade.
Boot of Travel is deemed superior to Arcane Boot in many ways.
Time Saving and Positioning
To get the most out of Arcane Boot, Io will have to be in the middle of the team. While clumping together, you're vulnerable to AOE spells and you waste valuable time. A few seconds of EACH member is worth consideration.
Global Presence Vs. Mana Replenishment
By choosing Boot of Travel, you effectively remove the need to carry TP scrolls and clear one inventory slot. One inventory slot is invaluable at late game. If you takes Travel, you will have one slot for an item that "may" surpass Arcane's Replenishment.
Ex: HoT Vs. Arcane's Replenishment...OVERKILL COMPARISON !!!!
Plus, it can target creeps, something TP scrolls cannot do. In combination with Relocate and you get one heck of a Global Presence. Note that Mana Replenishment's effectiveness DECREASE overtime as physical damage dethrone spells and reigns the battlefield while the effectiveness of Teleportation actually INCREASE as pushes can be done in seconds.
Cost effectiveness
Arguably, the cost for Travel's item builds is much higher than Arcane's. But then again, the decision to upgrade should be made at late game, after all the core items have been finished.
If you choose to take Arcane early to ignore the inventory loss, then it's Boot of Speed vs. Arcane Boot because Travel early game is...are you c-r-a-z-y ???
HP is damn important early game, then why would choose this
1000 gold to upgrade into Arcane Boot = 785 MP for the whole team
over this ???
600 gold to buy Bottle = 420 MP + 810 HP for one key hero
Again, Arcane Boot may prove to be effective on high mana consumption/spellcasters teams. Depend on the team you're in and your estimation of how the game will most likely proceed, make your choice.
In theory, it's indeed a nice item. Though I'm still bothered by the fact that it failed to shine in my recent games. I'll need more testing to confirm it but here's the primary cons I found so far...
Invest 525 gold on Tranquility boot = Invest 500 gold on 5x Healing Salves
5x Healing salves = 2000 HP ~ 17.7 minutes of continuous usage of Rejuvenate
So this means after you completed the Boot (instead of buying Healing Salves), it takes 17.7 minutes of continuous usage before the Boot actually yields any extra healing.
Normally it takes 10 minutes to get to Bottle (600 gold, roughly equal 525 gold) so only after 10+17.7=27.7 minutes into the game can the Boot make any difference...27.7 minutes. That's mid game for ya and 15 HP/s (non-combat) is no longer effective.
#2: Mekansm
Mek is indeed awesome on Io tho in some games I must admit there are certain players who are better Mek wielders than I am 'coz I usually get focused when "certain" foes get the idea of how annoying it is letting that floating orb of light alive...
Oh right, Decoy Io doesn't need Mek 'coz you're going back to Fountain after you have done your duty and not going to participate in that teamclash. They're raped when I turn out to be a Decoy. There goes the team game ~
Plus, if another supporter can get Mek earlier than you can then let him get it. Do NOT wait for a certain slowpoke orb of light to farm up Mek, he may never get there in time...Mek is a vital item in team clashes thus your team will need it asap.
So people, stop bashing me for de-priotize "Mek on Io" please~~~
These items won't affect your build in any ways, they do more good than harm.
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Bonus armor and damage. One of the best slot-fillers for Io.
Relocate or not, TP is irreplaceable.
Before you have Bottle or Urn this is your main supportive item.
This is good stuff, don't ask why.
It's your job to fulfill your team's reasonable needs
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Good replacement/addition to Mek. Don't get this if your team is turtling or your gankers are noobs.
Overcharge's alternative for spellcasters.
For a supporter, allies come first. Obviously Io gain nothing.
Against invisible heroes of course.
Here goes the "that's depend"
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Good for your survivability, the regen is good for Tethered ally too.
Same as Vanguard. Btw, the resistance stacks with Overcharge.
Good disable and MS. Again, lack team influence.
Physical damage? Ghost Scepter to the rescue!
Ninja Io
Don't know what to do with money? Here some idea
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Did someone order a WALKING FOUNTAIN?
Disable is good for everyone, except your opponents.
Stats and Slow, who wouldn't want that?
Worth every penny, cost lots of pennies though.
Provide bonus armor and auras. No regen whatsoever, what a pity.
Pros:
[+] Speed boosting spells.
[+] Long and spammable AOE stun.
[+] Global teleportation for him and 1 ally.
[+] Build-in escape spells.
[+] Powerful nuke.
[+] Require minimal items.
Friends: Allies that treasure Io's strengths.
Since Io is a supporter and he got lots of stuff to offer, everybody loves him EXCEPT
Already fast heroes:
MS boost and IAS are useless.
Summoners
Hmm...don't know which one to support?
Illusion heroes
"Hey, you gave them MY position" that's what they all say.
*Note: The "everybody loves him" part applies. There's actually no known de-synergy hero with Io. However, the aforementioned heroes "wasted" Io's supporting potential in some forms while they still, of course, greatly benefit from healing and other stuffs he offers.
For example: Lycan's Wolf Form may not want the increase MS but he still needs healing like everybody else.
Cons:
[-] Single-target supporter.
[-] Pathetic farming capability.
[-] Powerless without allies.
[-] Degeneration skill.
[-] Squishy, has a "kick-me" sign on his back.
Foes: Enemies that exploit Io's weaknesses.
Spellcaster
Both nuker and disabler can send you back to the Fountain faster than Relocate can.
Silence
A caster without his spells is a creep with items! <-- The worst of the worsts, a single combo of him can grind Io to dust, not to mention any spellcasters' nightmare - DOOM.
Long range killer/invisible assassin
Fear the unknown!
There are a couple of skills that would cause bugs if use in combination with Io's skills. They could be either deadly or lame, bug exploit is a no go and IceFrog usually fix them every patch. Thus, this section will disappear anytime if mods don't like it or the bug is eliminated.
Butcher - Meat Hook
Butcher's Meat hook has some seriously dangerous combo with Io's Relocate. Meat hook can prevent Io from returning, which is good if Butcher is your ally but very bad if he's your enemy.
There also one illogically bug that pull one enemy to his/her doom when Relocate and Meat hook are used together (which is bug exploit and I don't encourage that).
Barathrum
Provided that you can see what's coming, Tether can be used anytime to stop Bara's Charge of Darkness otherwise, Io's dead before he realised what had happened.
The buggy part is: Relocate can easily send Bara and his Nether Strike to...Fountain if timed right. Also, if you attached to allied Bara while he was using the Charge, you can hitch a ride and follow him to the end of the world.
14/07/2011: Project begins. Hero stats completed.
17/07/2011: Basic layout, skill tables completed.
23/07/2011: All basic content complete, formatting begins
18/08/2011: Titles and Mini guide added
04/09/2011: All content updated.
15/10/2011: Publication request
01/11/2011: Strategy -> Skill build. Add expansion marker
02/11/2011: Add Skill interaction to Relocate's expansion and clarifications to items section. Credit updated. Guide published thank to Lycan.
07/01/2012: Spotlight~
10/01/2012: Minor update. 6.73b update pending...
13/01/2012: Add expansion -> Core -> Item builds.
As usual, credit goes to Eul, Guinsoo and IceFrog for making DotA
Lycan and Lapis Lazuli for their early feedback.
The][nquisitoR for the Roof guide, which I used for reference.
And me for writing this guide.
Io the Guardian Wisp Author: Lightning_Ray Map Vers.: 6.72f
Spirit of the trees
Concise guide to Guardian Wisp
Date Posted: 07/15/11 Last Comment:17/02/2012 Total Votes: 68 Current Rating: 8.42 Views: 78690
) once said "Stay hungry. Stay foolish". Ought to live up to that!
).
If you're using this to escape the return, make sure you timed it right. Too soon = no effect, too late = may be interrupted by hero damage. Allied only.
Allied only.
The triple threats, good if it was an ally, bad if it was an enemy.
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+ 
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<-- The worst of the worsts, a single combo of him can grind Io to dust, not to mention any spellcasters' nightmare - DOOM.
Io the Guardian Wisp
