Spectre/Counters

Bad against...

 * Spectre has no way to prevent, for escape or initiation. Anti-Mage can easily pick off enemy supports and Spectre cannot do anything about it.
 * burns through Spectre's low mana pool.
 * 's illusions prevent 's damage.
 * Even though Anti-Mage is outcarried by Spectre in the later stages of the game, a competent Anti-Mage with a can easily outfarm and get ahead of Spectre before she can come online.


 * 's damage is calculated by percentage of maximum health, meaning that it will hurt Spectre more than most normal attacks, negating some of her tankiness.
 * Doom can pick up several different abilities from neutral creeps using, some of which can be annoying to Spectre.
 * Mud Golem, Dark Troll Summoner, Harpy Stormcrafter, Satyr Mindstealer or Satyr Tormenter are good examples.
 * makes Spectre less disruptive. Combined with, it will disable Spectre passive skills, reducing her potential in teamfights.


 * Juggernaut's can help save allied supports when Spectre attempts a  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, which can prevent from taking effect.
 * Juggernaut is invulnerable against while using.


 * and can be used to immediately destroy Spectre's illusion when she s. A fast fingered Lion can protect himself and a teammate.
 * and are good lockdown spells to control and kill Spectre, especially if she doesn't buy defensive items like  and.
 * can be used to burst down Spectre when she is low on life as she has very poor magic resistance.


 * The movement speed granted from means that Spectre has no way to punish Lycan if he wants to splitpush or pick off supports. Furthermore, he will kite  and cannot be slowed by.
 * As Lycan typically has out and builds, very rarely will he be damaged by  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.


 * combined with 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.


 * 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.


 * Global will protect his allies from Spectre's, both when they are alone and in teamfights.
 * 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.
 * will prevent Spectre from chasing Omniknight, further exacerbated by her terrible mobility outside Haunt.


 * 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 can be fairly damaging to Spectre early game. The mana degen will also dampen Spectre's early game power significantly.
 * Once Pugna gets, he can spam on any illusion Spectre summons, whether it'd be from , , or some other means.
 * In addition, Pugna can disable Spectre's ability (although its damage is pure, it requires physical attacks) with his  ability, leaving Spectre only with.


 * Riki's can make it hard for Spectre to escape or burst down Riki with auto attacks.
 * Riki can build and jump inside an allied carry or offlane tank with  to do a lot of damage to Spectre while completely avoiding.
 * 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, Riki does not take damage from.


 * can be used immediately to destroy Spectre's illusion when she s.
 * Shadow Shaman can use to lock down Spectre for his team.
 * Shadow Shaman's and  help him push lanes and end the game early before Spectre can come online and take over the late game.


 * 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 s and susceptible to being kited by procs.
 * can lock Spectre down as she doesn't like to build.
 * gives Storm Spirit multiple advantages:
 * Spectre cannot evade Storm Spirit, as Ball Lightning is superior to in terms of mobility.
 * Storm Spirit can kite her and her 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 . Ball Lightning grants invulnerability and can mitigate damage done from and.
 * To mitigate this, Spectre needs a team with hard disable to take Storm Spirit out.


 * If Terrorblade's health gets low enough, Terrorblade's can be used to completely deplete Spectre's health pool without any consequences from.
 * 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.


 * Spectre must chase for kills and relies on movement speed for mobility in fights, and has no way to counter the zombies.
 * The potency of can be increased from nearby illusions from Haunt.
 * will shut down Spectre during the laning phase by effectively cutting down her initial health pool.


 * 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.
 * s can scout out Spectre while she is hiding in trees.


 * disable passives, negating Spectre's damage and survivability by removing both and.
 * Due to and 's burn, Spectre is heavily susceptible to being persistently slowed and damaged by  without even directly attacking Viper.
 * and further slow Spectre's movement speed to a crawl, while his improved magic resistance means he can easily shrug off 's burn.


 * makes it nearly impossible for Spectre to juke into the trees.
 * negates all of Spectre's physical damage. Furthermore, Cold Embrace will generally outheal.
 * can taunt illusions, not only wasting the entire duration of but also turning its illusions against Spectre's own team.

Others

 * can control where she goes with and .  shuts her down in teamfights.
 * can pull together Spectre's illusions with, and creates an illusion of Spectre that deals massive damage.
 * 's allows him to stun Spectre and illusions, and  prevents her from juking with.
 * Heroes with good escapes can usually outmaneuver and escape from Spectre:, ,
 * Heroes that are strong in lane can cause a lot of problems for Spectre in the early game, preventing her from getting farm and experience.

Items

 * will completely disable Spectre, and she rarely builds a to prevent this.
 * will deal AoE damage and allow Spectre to be identified from her illusions.
 * 's active ability can deal a lot of damage to Spectre during a team fight, as damage from both and  will drastically increase the proc chance of Static Charge.
 * can break both and, crippling Spectre.
 * blocks most of physical damage from.

Good against...

 * As Ancient Apparition likes to stay far away from the fight to get full effectiveness from, he is a very good target for a gank.
 * Ancient Apparition also has no hard disables and escape spells, making him an easy kill for Spectre.


 * Spectre can catch Clinkz with, even if he uses.
 * Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Clinkz with.
 * 's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.


 * As Crystal Maiden is squishy with very bad movement speed, Spectre can easily stay on Crystal Maiden with and.
 * Late game, with enough farm, Spectre can withstand an entire, possibly even causing Crystal Maiden to kill herself from.


 * Spectre can easily close the distance on Drow Ranger with and stick on her with, effectively disables her.
 * Spectre does not care if silenced by, since Spectre will catch her up regardless.
 * can reflect some damage back to Drow Ranger should she chooses to attack.
 * Be careful once she got her as an attempt to shut you down.


 * Spectre can use to intercept and disrupt Earthshaker's initiation attempts.
 * can be used to traverse past.
 * Earthshaker often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so can be very effective against him.
 * Beware that the illusions amplify the damage done from, which can prove fatal for Spectre's own team.


 * Spectre can very easily close the distance on Lina with and, and due to Lina's abysmal mobility without a  and terrible health pool and armor, Lina easily gets slaughtered due.
 * can mitigate a good portion of Lina's burst damage, allowing Spectre to turn against her afterwards.


 * Spectre can use to intercept and disrupt Magnus's initiation attempts.
 * can severely slow down Magnus after he uses.
 * Magnus often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so can be very effective against him.
 * In late game, Spectre can survive initiation thanks to.


 * Spectre can get to him anywhere on the map with.
 * Spectre can pass through his trees with.
 * 's damage will melt him quickly, as he's alone most of the time.


 * Oracle's burst damage is not enough to take down Spectre due to.
 * Disarm from does not hinder Spectre that much, since she can deal damage even without landing a single attack.


 * makes it hard for Phantom Assassin to burst down Spectre while also reflecting back Phantom Assassin's high burst damage against herself.
 * ignores the evasion from.
 * is useless against Spectre as all of her skills pierce spell immunity.


 * None of Spectre's spells are very good for Rubick to.


 * Spectre can reach him easily in the backlines with or teleport to him with.
 * He is usually a fair distance away from his allies, so will quickly tear Sniper down.
 * reflect or reduce his damage, making her hard to take down even at late game.


 * His global teleportation with and  is easily countered with, and Spectre can reach him anywhere on the map.
 * He is squishy, and if alone will kill him very fast.
 * 's blind isn't reliable, since cannot miss. Even worse,  can reflect and reduce his burst damage.


 * Spectre can catch up to her with, even if she uses.
 * Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Windranger with.
 * 's miss chance is countered by.
 * can reflect some of her damage, especially from her.


 * Zeus burst damage can be reduced by and reflect some of the damage back to Zeus himself.
 * Zeus has low mobility, or  can easily catch him as he has no escape mechanism.
 * Since Zeus always stays in backlines, and  will quickly tear Zeus down.

Others

 * Spectre's entire ability set is designed to get to and destroy heroes that stay in the backlines, both carries (like the aforementioned and ) and supports (like  and ).
 * Heroes that rely on evasion are slightly countered by Desolate:,.
 * Invisible heroes (like and ) can usually be caught by Haunt, and Spectre can chase them while simultaneously providing detection to her team.
 * Squishy heroes without good escape mechanism:,.

Items

 * Spectre can intercept initiations to warn her team while simultaneously disrupting enemy engagements.
 * 's evasion is negated by Desolate.
 * is essentially useless against Spectre as all her skills pierce Spell Immunity.

Works well with...

 * 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.
 * can increase her damage from and Desolate.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * Haunt can reveal potential targets without making him waste.


 * deals more damage the more units hit by it. This forces the enemy team to split up and risk being killed by Haunt illusions.


 * is devastating to heroes grouped together. The enemy team will be given the choice of being affected more by Haunt if spread out or if grouped.


 * and both provide excellent AOE lockdown to allow Spectre and her illusions to stick onto targets.
 * can aid Spectre heavily in destroying towers, funneling her gold and creating space for her to farm.
 * Magic damage from 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.


 * 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.
 * can give bonus damage and cleave to Spectre to hasten her farm.


 * 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.


 * can help Treant scout out enemies for potential Haunt ganks.
 * will heal Spectre and her illusions, also providing a slow in case Spectral Dagger is on cooldown.
 * 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.
 * 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.


 * keeps Spectre healthy in lane. Having more health also means more reflected damage with Dispersion.
 * further increases damage of Haunt on a group of enemies.


 * Can use on invisible heroes after Spectre hits them with Spectral Dagger.

Others

 * Lane supports in general can help Spectre secure last hits and control the lane:, ,
 * Heroes with global abilities or high mobility help Spectre gank with Haunt:, , ,
 * Spectre deals almost exclusively physical or pure damage. To complement, nukers such as, , etc. can prevent the team from lacking in magical damage.

List of heroes that counter Spectre, and list of heroes that work well with Spectre.

Spectre/Противостоящие