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Bad against...

Anti-Mage icon
  • Spectre has no way to prevent Blink (Anti-Mage) icon Blink, for escape or initiation. Anti-Mage can easily pick off enemy supports and Spectre cannot do anything about it.
  • Mana Break icon Mana Break burns through Spectre's low mana pool.
  • Manta Style icon Manta Style's illusions prevent Desolate's damage.
  • Even though Anti-Mage is outcarried by Spectre in the later stages of the game, a competent Anti-Mage with a Battle Fury icon Battle Fury can easily outfarm and get ahead of Spectre before she can come online.
Doom icon
Juggernaut icon
  • Juggernaut's Healing Ward icon Healing Ward can help save allied supports when Spectre attempts a Haunt kill.
  • Juggernaut has a stronger push potential than Spectre, enabling him to end the game early before Spectre can come online.
  • Spectre is often paired with two supports that are often weak against Juggernaut.
  • Juggernaut also tends to build a Manta Style icon Manta Style, which can prevent Desolate from taking effect.
  • Juggernaut is invulnerable against Dispersion while using Omnislash icon Omnislash
Lion icon
  • Hex (Lion) icon Hex and Mana Drain icon Mana Drain can be used to immediately destroy Spectre's illusion when she Haunts. A fast fingered Lion can protect himself and a teammate.
  • Hex (Lion) icon Hex and Earth Spike icon Earth Spike are good lockdown spells to control and kill Spectre, especially if she doesn't buy defensive items like Linken's Sphere icon Linken's Sphere and Black King Bar icon Black King Bar.
  • Finger of Death icon Finger of Death can be used to burst down Spectre when she is low on life as she has very poor magic resistance.
Lycan icon
  • The movement speed granted from Shapeshift icon Shapeshift means that Spectre has no way to punish Lycan if he wants to splitpush or pick off supports. Furthermore, he will kite Haunt and cannot be slowed by Spectral Dagger.
  • As Lycan typically has Summon Wolves icon Summon Wolves out and builds Necronomicon icon Necronomicon, very rarely will he be damaged by Desolate if he does manage to get into a fight against her.
  • Lycan is often part of an early game push strategy which is often the best counter to Spectre because she needs a lot of time and space to come online as a late game carry.
Meepo icon
  • Poof icon Poof combined with Earthbind icon Earthbind can be used to easily lockdown and burst Spectre down.
  • As Meepo's playstyle is often to come online early to mid game and take over the whole game, Meepo will often be much further ahead of Spectre in farming.
  • Meepo's global map presence allows him to effectively hunt for Spectre and disrupt her farm.
  • Spectre has no strong AOE abilities or way to control or lock down Meepo.
Necrophos icon
  • Death Pulse icon Death Pulse can single out Spectre from her illusions, as well as heal his team against her. He also usually stands close to his allies for Death Pulse, effectively disabling Desolate.
Omniknight icon
  • Global Guardian Angel icon Guardian Angel will protect his allies from Spectre's Haunt, both when they are alone and in teamfights.
  • Purification icon Purification is a major problem for melee enemies, Spectre included, since they must be next to an enemy in order to attack. The AoE damage also allows Spectre to be singled out from her illusions.
  • Degen Aura icon Degen Aura will prevent Spectre from chasing Omniknight, further exacerbated by her terrible mobility outside Haunt.
Pugna icon
  • Nether Blast icon Nether Blast is one of the best tower pushing abilities in the game, with a low cooldown. A competent Pugna will (at the very least) destroy tier 2 towers and make space for his team before Spectre can finally come online.
  • Spectre's spells, while not spammable, have a fairly high mana cost, so Nether Ward icon Nether Ward can be fairly damaging to Spectre early game. The mana degen will also dampen Spectre's early game power significantly.
  • Once Pugna gets Aghanim's Scepter icon Aghanim's Scepter, he can spam Life Drain icon Life Drain on any illusion Spectre summons, whether it'd be from Haunt, Manta Style icon Manta Style, or some other means.
  • In addition, Pugna can disable Spectre's Desolate ability (although its damage is pure, it requires physical attacks) with his Decrepify icon Decrepify ability, leaving Spectre only with Spectral Dagger.
Riki icon
  • Riki's Smoke Screen icon Smoke Screen can make it hard for Spectre to escape or burst down Riki with auto attacks.
  • Riki can build Aghanim's Scepter icon Aghanim's Scepter and jump inside an allied carry or offlane tank with Tricks of the Trade icon Tricks of the Trade to do a lot of damage to Spectre while completely avoiding Dispersion.
  • Riki is great at destroying supports which are often needed to keep Spectre safe until she comes online. He can take them down quickly in team fights, which will leave Spectre alone against your whole team, a fight that she will most likely not win.
  • While on Tricks of the Trade icon Tricks of the Trade, Riki does not take damage from Dispersion.
Shadow Shaman icon
  • Hex (Shadow Shaman) icon Hex can be used immediately to destroy Spectre's illusion when she Haunts.
  • Shadow Shaman can use Shackles icon Shackles to lock down Spectre for his team.
  • Shadow Shaman's Mass Serpent Ward icon Mass Serpent Ward and Ether Shock icon Ether Shock help him push lanes and end the game early before Spectre can come online and take over the late game.
Storm Spirit icon
  • Storm Spirit can exploit every one of Spectre's weaknesses, and thus is one of the best counters against her.
  • Spectre has to be in melee range to deal damage, making her likely to trigger Static Remnant icon Static Remnants and susceptible to being kited by Overload icon Overload procs.
  • Electric Vortex icon Electric Vortex can lock Spectre down as she doesn't like to build Black King Bar icon Black King Bar.
  • Ball Lightning icon Ball Lightning gives Storm Spirit multiple advantages:
    • Spectre cannot evade Storm Spirit, as Ball Lightning is superior to Spectral Dagger in terms of mobility.
    • Storm Spirit can kite her and her Haunt illusions when it's later in the game due to her having no form of pseudo-blinks (Reality is far inferior to Ball Lightning).
    • It is very difficult for Spectre to deal any substantial damage against Storm Spirit with Desolate. Ball Lightning grants invulnerability and can mitigate damage done from Dispersion and Radiance icon Radiance.
Terrorblade icon
  • If Terrorblade's health gets low enough, Terrorblade's Sunder icon Sunder can be used to completely deplete Spectre's health pool without any consequences from Dispersion.
  • Terrorblade is one of the few late game heroes that can stand toe to toe and man fight Spectre. Not all is lost if the game goes late when Terrorblade is on your team against Spectre.
Undying icon
  • Spectre must chase for kills and relies on movement speed for mobility in fights, and has no way to counter the Tombstone icon Tombstone zombies.
  • The potency of Soul Rip icon Soul Rip can be increased from nearby illusions from Haunt.
  • Decay icon Decay will shut down Spectre during the laning phase by effectively cutting down her initial health pool.
Venomancer icon
  • Venomancer's poison damage over time is very effective against Spectre, who tends to lack magic resistance during the early to mid game.
  • Venomancer's multiple slows greatly reduces Spectre's movement speed and mobility.
  • Plague Ward icon Plague Wards can scout out Spectre while she is hiding in trees.
Viper icon
  • Nethertoxin icon Nethertoxin removes passives, negating Spectre's damage and survivability by removing both Dispersion and Desolate.
  • Due to Haunt and Radiance's burn, Spectre is heavily susceptible to being persistently slowed and damaged by Corrosive Skin icon Corrosive Skin without even directly attacking Viper.
  • Poison Attack icon Poison Attack and Viper Strike icon Viper Strike further slow Spectre's movement speed to a crawl, while his improved magic resistance means he can easily shrug off Radiance's burn.
Winter Wyvern icon
  • Arctic Burn icon Arctic Burn makes it nearly impossible for Spectre to juke into the trees.
  • Cold Embrace icon Cold Embrace negates all of Spectre's physical damage. Furthermore, Cold Embrace will generally outheal Desolate.
  • Winter's Curse icon Winter's Curse can taunt illusions, not only wasting the entire duration of Haunt but also turning its illusions against Spectre's own team.

Others

Items

  • Scythe of Vyse icon Scythe of Vyse will completely disable Spectre, and she rarely builds a Black King Bar icon Black King Bar to prevent this.
  • Battle Fury icon Battle Fury will deal AoE damage and allow Spectre to be identified from her illusions.
  • Mjollnir icon Mjollnir's active ability can deal a lot of damage to Spectre during a team fight, as damage from both Dispersion and Radiance icon Radiance will drastically increase the proc chance of Static Charge.
  • Silver Edge icon Silver Edge can break both Desolate and Dispersion, crippling Spectre.
  • Crimson Guard icon Crimson Guard blocks most physical damage from Dispersion.

Good against...

Ancient Apparition icon
  • As Ancient Apparition likes to stay far away from the fight to get full effectiveness from Ice Blast icon Ice Blast, he is a very good target for a Haunt gank. Ancient Apparition also has no hard disables and escape spells, making him an easy kill for Spectre.
Clinkz icon
  • Spectre can catch Clinkz with Spectral Dagger, even if he uses Skeleton Walk icon Skeleton Walk.
  • Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Clinkz with Haunt.
  • Desolate's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.
Crystal Maiden icon
  • As Crystal Maiden is squishy with very bad movement speed, Spectre can easily stay on Crystal Maiden with Haunt and Spectral Dagger.
  • Late game, with enough farm, Spectre can withstand an entire Freezing Field icon Freezing Field, possibly even causing Crystal Maiden to kill herself from Dispersion.
Drow Ranger icon
  • Spectre can easily close the distance on Drow Ranger with Haunt and stick on her with Spectral Dagger, negating the bonus agility from Marksmanship icon Marksmanship.
Earthshaker icon
  • Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Earthshaker's initiation attempts.
  • Spectral Dagger can be used to traverse past Fissure icon Fissure.
  • Earthshaker often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
  • Beware that the Haunt illusions amplify the damage done from Echo Slam icon Echo Slam, which can prove fatal for Spectre's own team.
Lina icon
  • Spectre can very easily close the distance on Lina with Haunt and Spectral Dagger, and due to Lina's abysmal mobility without a Blink Dagger icon Blink Dagger and terrible health pool and armor, Lina easily gets slaughtered due to Desolate.
  • Dispersion can mitigate a good portion of Lina's burst damage, allowing Spectre to turn against her afterwards.
Magnus icon
  • Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Magnus's initiation attempts.
  • Spectral Dagger can severely slow down Magnus after he uses Skewer icon Skewer.
  • Magnus often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.
Nature's Prophet icon
  • Spectre can get to him anywhere on the map with Haunt.
  • Spectre can pass through his trees with Spectral Dagger.
  • Desolate's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.
Phantom Assassin icon
  • Dispersion makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
  • Desolate ignores the evasion from Blur icon Blur.
  • Black King Bar is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.
Rubick icon
  • None of Spectre's spells are very good for Rubick to Spell Steal icon Spell Steal.
Sniper icon
  • Spectre can reach him easily in the backlines with Spectral Dagger or teleport to him with Haunt.
  • He is usually a fair distance away from his allies, so Desolate will quickly tear Sniper down.
Tinker icon
  • His global teleportation with Boots of Travel icon Boots of Travel and Rearm icon Rearm is easily countered with Haunt, and Spectre can reach him anywhere on the map.
  • He is squishy, and if alone Desolate will kill him very fast.
  • Laser icon Laser's blind isn't reliable, since Desolate cannot miss.
Windranger icon
  • Spectre can catch up to her with Spectral Dagger, even if she uses Windrun icon Windrun.
  • Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Windranger with Haunt.
  • Windrun icon Windrun's miss chance is countered by Desolate.

Others

  • Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned Drow Ranger minimap icon Drow Ranger and Sniper minimap icon Sniper) and supports (like Dazzle minimap icon Dazzle and Shadow Shaman minimap icon Shadow Shaman).
  • Heroes that rely on evasion are slightly countered by Desolate: Phantom Assassin minimap icon Phantom Assassin, Troll Warlord minimap icon Troll Warlord.
  • Invisible heroes (like Bounty Hunter minimap icon Bounty Hunter and Riki minimap icon Riki) can usually be caught by Haunt, and Spectre can chase them while simultaneously providing detection to her team.

Items

  • Spectre can intercept Blink Dagger icon Blink Dagger initiations to warn her team while simultaneously disrupting enemy engagements.
  • Butterfly icon Butterfly's evasion is negated by Desolate.
  • Black King Bar icon Black King Bar is essentially useless against Spectre as all her skills pierce Spell Immunity.

Works well with...

Bloodseeker icon
  • Thirst icon Thirst can reveal enemies on low health anywhere on the map (and provide True Sight). Spectre can then Haunt to a low health enemy for an easy kill.
  • Bloodrage icon Bloodrage can increase her damage from Radiance icon Radiance and Desolate.
Bounty Hunter icon
  • Spectre can use Haunt to reach a Tracked enemy anywhere on the map.
  • Gold from killing Tracked enemies will allow Spectre to snowball and become unstoppable quickly.
Chen icon
  • Hand of God icon Hand of God can heal Spectre from anywhere on the map
  • In the late game, Chen can push lanes by himself, and Spectre will be able to protect him from anywhere on the map with Haunt.
  • Ganks from the jungle will allow Spectre to snowball quickly, and he can protect her in lane from enemy ganks.
Clockwerk icon
Earthshaker icon
  • Echo Slam icon Echo Slam deals more damage the more units hit by it. This forces the enemy team to split up and risk being killed by Haunt illusions.
Enigma icon
  • Black Hole icon Black Hole is devastating to heroes grouped together. The enemy team will be given the choice of being affected more by Haunt if spread out or Black Hole icon Black Hole if grouped.
Leshrac icon
  • Split Earth icon Split Earth and Lightning Storm icon Lightning Storm both provide excellent AOE lockdown to allow Spectre and her illusions to stick onto targets.
  • Diabolic Edict icon Diabolic Edict can aid Spectre heavily in destroying towers, funneling her gold and creating space for her to farm.
  • Magic damage from Pulse Nova icon Pulse Nova compliments Spectre's physical and pure damage.
  • Due to the AOE nature of Leshrac's spells, enemies will be discouraged from clumping up, which will make them more susceptible to Haunt ganks.
Magnus icon
  • Reverse Polarity icon Reverse Polarity is very effective versus heroes close together. The enemy team is forced to split to avoid this and is more exposed to Desolate from Haunt illusions.
  • Empower icon Empower can give bonus damage and cleave to Spectre to hasten her farm.
Unknown Hero icon
  • Lua error in Module:Ability_ID at line 61: Could not find Cargo data for "Sanity's Eclipse". can deal massive damage in an area. If the enemy heroes spread out, they risk being killed by Haunt illusions.
  • Enemies will have to make a tough decision during teamfights: either clump up and risk getting hit by a big ultimate from one of the heroes above, or spread out and be picked off by Haunt.
Treant Protector icon
  • Nature's Guise icon Nature's Guise can help Treant scout out enemies for potential Haunt ganks.
  • Leech Seed icon Leech Seed will heal Spectre and her illusions, also providing a slow in case Spectral Dagger is on cooldown.
  • Living Armor icon Living Armor can be used to heal Spectre while she farms the jungle. It can also be used to heal towers, stalling the push of enemies and biding time for Spectre to farm her items.
  • Overgrowth icon Overgrowth holds enemies in place. If enemies are rooted but far away enough from each other, Haunt illusions can be very devastating as then all of their attacks will be amplified by Desolate.
Warlock icon
  • Shadow Word icon Shadow Word keeps Spectre healthy in lane. Having more health also means more reflected damage with Dispersion.
  • Fatal Bonds icon Fatal Bonds further increases damage of Haunt on a group of enemies.
Pudge icon
  • Can use Meat Hook icon Meat Hook on invisible heroes after Spectre hits them with Spectral Dagger.

Others


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