Skip to content
Dota 2
GuidesMetaBuildsTiersDraftNewsWeeklyHeroesItemsTalents
A full hero guideItems and skillsHeroes S to D
All games

Spectre · Carry (pos. 1)

Spectre Abilities and Combos

Abilities & combosData-drivenMediumPatch 7.41
412Updated

More Spectre guides

This guide is assembled by the site from match data and the game's own information — nobody wrote it by hand. Official and community guides appear alongside it when they exist.

Overview

This guide goes through Spectre's kit ability by ability. The kit brings mobility with Shadow Step. Its ultimate is Haunt.

Strengths

  • Haunt can swing team fights: it hits several enemies at once.
  • Mobility: Shadow Step gets Spectre in and out of fights.
  • Scales into a late-game threat as the items come in.

Weaknesses

  • Low base armor (0): vulnerable to physical harass early on.
  • Melee: has to walk up to its target, which makes the lane harder against ranged heroes.

Build cheat sheet

Pick the build that fits what you want to do this game.

Builds

Most-played build

BalancedRecommended
Open build

When to use it

The items most bought with this hero, phase by phase. Pick it when you don't have a clear reason to deviate. Built from what Spectre players buy in the public matches we measured.

Where it's played

Picked before the game: the main lane first, then the alternatives.

Seen from RadiantRadiant · bottom leftDire · top right
  1. Safe laneMain96% of matchesSafe lane as the farming core (pos. 1).

Starting items

Iron BranchQuelling BladeTangoMagic StickFaerie FireCirclet

Early game

Urn of ShadowsWraith BandBracer

Core items

  1. 1Radiance
  2. 2Manta Style
  3. 3Hand of Midas
  4. 4Blade Mail

Boots

Power Treads

Late game

Eye of SkadiSkull BasherAbyssal BladeBlack King Bar

Skill order

Max order:Spectral Dagg…›Dispersion›Shadow Step

Ability1234567891011121314151617
●·●·●·●··········
·●·········●·●●··
···●···●●●·······
·····●······●···●

Talents by level

  1. +4% Dispersion
    +12% All Spectre Illusion Damage
    25
  2. +300 Health
    +15% Spectral Dagger Slow/Bonus
    20
  3. +1.0s Shadow Step Duration
    +80 Spectral Dagger Damage
    15
  4. -3s Spectral Dagger Cooldown
    +12 Desolate Damage
    10

Abilities

  • Spectral Dagger22 / 20 / 18 / 16s100 / 110 / 120 / 130 mpSpectre flings a dagger to draw a Shadow Path, dealing damage and slowing the movement speed of any enemies along the trail. Units hit by the dagger also trail a Shadow Path. While treading the path, Spectre moves faster and phases through otherwise impassable terrain.
    Damage
    80·120·160·200
    Movement speed change
    14%·16%·18%·20%
    Duration
    7
    Basic ability — slows. Part of your regular rotation.
  • Shadow Step24 / 21 / 18 / 15s60 / 65 / 70 / 75 mpSends an uncontrollable illusion at a target that follows and attacks the target. The Reality sub-ability may be used to teleport to the illusion, destroying it.
    Duration
    3.5·4·4.5·5
    Illusion damage taken
    175%
    Illusion damage
    35%·40%·45%·50%
    Basic ability — moves you. Keep it to escape unless the kill is certain.
  • DispersionPassiveSpectre disperses part of the damage dealt to her, reflecting it to all nearby enemies. The effect lessens with distance.
    Damage reflected
    9%·12%·15%·18%
    Min radius
    350
    Max radius
    700
    Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Reality1.5s25 mpSpectre assumes the target Shadow Step or Haunt illusion, destroying it.Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • DesolatePassiveSpectre and her illusions deal bonus Pure damage if attacking an enemy that does not have any allied units within a 350 radius around them.
    Damage
    23.5
    Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Haunt160 / 150 / 140s125 / 175 / 225 mpCreates a spectral nemesis to haunt all enemy Heroes. Haunt illusions are uncontrollable, take extra damage, and deal less damage than Spectre herself. They ignore terrain. The Reality sub-ability may be used to teleport to the illusion, destroying it.
    Haunt duration
    6
    Haunt damage
    35%·50%·65%
    Haunt damage taken
    200%
    Ultimate — moves you and hits an area. Keep it to escape unless the kill is certain.

Most played skill order

The most played order in the last 100 professional matches with this hero. Highlighted levels are the points spent on talents.

Max order:Spectral Dagg…›Dispersion›Shadow Step

Ability1234567891011121314151617
●·●·●·●··········
·●·········●·●●··
···●···●●●·······
·····●······●···●

Strategy

1The kit

The kit brings mobility with Shadow Step.

  • Spectral Dagger — Basic ability — slows. Part of your regular rotation.
  • Shadow Step — Basic ability — moves you. Keep it to escape unless the kill is certain.
  • Dispersion — Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Reality — Basic ability. Part of your regular rotation.
  • Desolate — Passive — hits an area. It works on its own: play around it.
  • Haunt — Ultimate — moves you and hits an area. Keep it to escape unless the kill is certain.

2Skill order

Take Haunt whenever it's available (levels 6, 12 and 18). Between basic abilities, cores usually max their damage or farming ability first and supports their disable.

3Combos

Without hard crowd control in the kit, your damage depends on positioning: land your abilities when the enemy is committed to something else.

4Using your ultimate

Haunt is the ability the enemy plays around. Use it where it changes the fight, and remember its cooldown: after using it, you're a smaller threat for a while.

Tips

  • Keep Shadow Step out of your combo unless the kill is certain.
  • Watch Haunt's cooldown: fights you take without it are much harder.
  • Practise the combo in a practice game before using it in ranked.
  • Count the enemy's key cooldowns: the best moment to use yours is right after they use theirs.

Changelog

  1. Guide created for patch 7.41.

Was this helpful?

Your vote helps other players find the best guides.