Spirit Breaker/Counters
Counters
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Many hands make light work.
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Contents
Bad against...[edit]
- In the early game, Omniknight can look like an easy target for Spirit Breaker, but with Purification and Degen Aura, what could be an opportunity could quickly turn into disaster.
- Heavenly Grace can be used to counter Charge of Darkness by minimizing the damage and lowering the stun duration with status resistance.
- Spirit Breaker's Greater Bash from all sources (Charge of Darkness or normal attacks) deals lesser damage if he is within the radius of Degen Aura.
- Due to this, Spirit Breaker's damage will always be lower when targeting Omniknight.
- Battery Assault will continuously prevent Spirit Breaker from using Nether Strike, Charge of Darkness and even right clicking because of his long attack animation.
- Charge of Darkness can be cancelled by a correctly timed Hookshot.
- Should Clockwerk or his allies be targeted by Charge of Darkness, he can stop it by casting Power Cogs in Spirit Breaker's path or around the target.
- Searing Chains can stop Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
- Activate Fire Remnant can be used to escape an approaching Spirit Breaker, or lead Spirit Breaker into a bad situation.
- Activate Fire Remnant and Sleight of Fist allows Ember Spirit to dodge Charge of Darkness if timed correctly.
- Astral Imprisonment can be used to protect allies by imprisoning either them or Spirit Breaker.
- Arcane Orb will heavily drain Spirit Breaker's intelligence, rendering him almost useless and unable to cast spells. Spirit Breaker's low intelligence also means Sanity's Eclipse will deal a lot of damage to him.
- Malefice prevents Spirit Breaker from using his spells for the duration.
- Demonic Conversion's eidolons have high magic resistance, receiving little damage from Charge of Darkness.
- Cold Snap allows Invoker to interrupt Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
- Tornado's long range can be used to cancel Charge of Darkness.
- Deafening Blast prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and thus proccing his Greater Bash.
- If Medusa activates Stone Gaze, the charge will inevitably fail.
- Mana Shield and overall tankiness allows Medusa to easily survive Spirit Breaker's initiation.
- Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Supernova is problematic for Spirit Breaker to take down, and even more so with Fire Spirits debuff applied.
- Icarus Dive grants Phoenix capability to quickly escape to safety.
- Earthbind's root prevents/interrupts Charge of Darkness.
- As a single target focused hero without much damage output, Spirit Breaker is ineffective in general against Meepo. Consider upgrading Nether Strike with Aghanim's Scepter to spam AoE stuns against Meepo clones.
- Static Link drains damage bonus from Greater Bash, it cannot be removed by Nether Strike.
- Eye of the Storm melts Spirit Breaker's armor, and makes him much less tanky.
- Living Armor can mitigate a large portion of Spirit Breaker's damage since his attacks are slow.
- Treant Protector can also counter initiate Spirit Breaker with Leech Seed and his bash from Nature's Guise before he manages to escape.
- Pit of Malice can be cast in the path of Spirit Breaker's Charge of Darkness to cancel it.
- Dark Rift provides a way to escape from a gank for Underlord and his teammates.
- Due to Spirit Breaker's low attack speed, Tombstone is problematic for Spirit Breaker.
- The zombies summoned from Tombstone apply a stacking movement speed slow, which can significantly reduce Greater Bash's damage.
- Soul Rip and Decay allows Undying and his allies to survive from incoming ganks of Spirit Breaker.
Others[edit]
- Heroes that can cancel Charge of Darkness: Ogre Magi, Earthshaker.
- Heroes with ways to protect themselves or allies from Spirit Breaker's initiation: Shadow Demon
- Heroes that punish mobile heroes: Bloodseeker, Keeper of the Light
- Heroes that usually builds Linken's Sphere as a core item: Weaver, Medusa, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Storm Spirit
- Durable heroes: Axe, Bristleback, Tidehunter, Wraith King
- Heroes who continue dealing damage while being stunned: Luna, Razor, Axe, Bristleback, Leshrac,
- Heroes that can slow Charge of Darkness by a huge amount: Venomancer, Viper, Dazzle, Arc Warden
Items[edit]
- Ghost Scepter (and it's upgrade Ethereal Blade) prevents Spirit Breaker from right clicking and bashing.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity can be used on yourself or Spirit Breaker to cancel Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
- Rod of Atos, Scythe of Vyse, Abyssal Blade, and Force Staff (and its upgrade Hurricane Pike) interrupt Charge of Darkness.
- Heaven's Halberd can prevent Spirit Breaker from right clicking and bashing.
- Linken's Sphere blocks Charge of Darkness and Nether Strike.
Good against...[edit]
- Anti-Mage usually relies on Blink to escape, but with vision from Charge of Darkness it is easier to catch him.
- Spirit Breaker could single-handedly lock Anti-Mage down for 4 seconds (or even more with lucky bashes), allowing his teammates to follow up.
- As Anti-Mage is an elusive hero who likes to farm alone, Spirit Breaker could choose to charge whenever Anti-Mage is in sight.
- Once caught with dust, Clinkz could be locked down for a long time by Spirit Breaker and has nowhere to escape.
- Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, showing Clinkz even when he is in Skeleton Walk.
- Charge of Darkness allows Spirit Breaker to catch Nature's Prophet out when he tries to split push.
- Nature's Prophet can't hide in his Sprout against Spirit Breaker, as his Charge of Darkness provides vision on its target.
- Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Nature's Prophet's Teleportation.
- Tinker relies on his high mobility from Boots of Travel and Blink Dagger to survive. Those items don't help him if Spirit Breaker manages to cast Charge of Darkness on him.
- Spirit Breaker can easily cancel Rearm and Boots of Travel.
Others[edit]
- Heroes that are squishy by nature are an easy target for Spirit Breaker: Sniper, Drow Ranger, Shadow Shaman
- Heroes that rely on invisibility can be tracked with Charge of Darkness opening them to team attacks: Bounty Hunter, Mirana, Riki
- Charge of Darkness provides shared vision over its target, keeping track of heroes who rely on invisibility, mobility, or illusions: Riki, Broodmother, Phantom Lancer
- Heroes that rely on escapes to stay alive can be caught and locked down for a long time: Queen of Pain, Phantom Assassin
- Spirit Breaker's stuns pierce spell immunity, making him a good choice against heroes that heavily rely on Black King Bar; Huskar
Works well with...[edit]
- Bloodrage amplifies Spirit breakers damage, giving him higher solo kill potential.
- Thirst reveals low health enemies, enabling Spirit Breaker to use Charge of Darkness to finish them off.
- Track enables Spirit Breaker to charge heroes that are outside of the team's field of vision, also granting gold for the rest of the team should the gank succeed.
- Track also provides bonus movement speed to Spirit Breaker, increasing Greater Bash's damage.
- Bounty Hunter usually scouts areas, hence he can find lone targets for Spirit Breaker to charge.
- Tether provides bonus movement speed to Spirit Breaker, increasing Greater Bash's damage.
- Overcharge gives Spirit Breaker extra attack speed and thus a higher chance to proc Greater Bash.
- Relocate can turn a Charge of Darkness into a three man gank.
- Infest allows Lifestealer to come along when Spirit Breaker uses Charge of Darkness, for both ganking and escaping.
- Infesting Spirit Breaker gives him a massive buff to his movement speed, increasing Greater Bash's damage.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Lifestealer can also give Spirit Breaker increased movement speed for more damage and spell immunity.
- Surge allows Spirit Breaker to increase his movement and Charge of Darkness speed, decreasing his target time to counter, while simultaneously increasing his damage.
- A Firesnap Cookie can be used on a charging Spirit Breaker, further disabling the enemies he has fixated more.
Others[edit]
- Heroes with attack speed buffs: ( Beastmaster, Invoker, Chen, Arc Warden)
- Heroes that can give extra movement speed to Spirit Breaker: ( Ogre Magi)
Items[edit]
- Glimmer Cape can be used on Spirit Breaker while he is charging, further increasing the surprise factor.
- Linken's Sphere can be used on Spirit Breaker while he is charging, protecting him against single-target disables that can interrupt Charge of Darkness.
