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.
 * Her low mana pool will quickly empty with.
 * 's illusions prevent Desolate damage.


 * removes passives, instantly killing Spectre's damage and survivability by removing both Dispersion and Desolate.
 * Due to haunt and Radiance 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 shrug off Radiance burn easily.


 * 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 Haunt and cannot be slowed by Spectral Dagger.
 * As Lycan typically has out and builds, very rarely will he be damaged by Desolate if he does manage to get into a fight against her.


 * 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, so can disable Desolate.
 * at level 3 kills Spectre at around 20% due to magic resistance and Dispersion.


 * Global will protect his allies from Spectre's Haunt, 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. 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 T2 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 Haunt, , or some other means.
 * In addition Pugna can disable Spectre's Desolate ability (although its damage is pure, it requires physical attacks) with his ability, leaving Spectre only with Spectral Dagger.


 * 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, who doesn't like to build.
 * for multiple reasons:
 * 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.


 * 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, so Undying can use Haunt against Spectre.
 * Early game will make Spectre easy to shut down in lane.


 * makes it nearly impossible for Spectre to juke into the trees.
 * negates all of Spectre's physical damage. Furthermore, Cold Embrace will generally outheal Desolate.
 * can taunt illusions, not only wasting the entire duration of Haunt 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 Spectral Dagger.
 * Heroes with good escapes such as, , and can usually outmaneuver and escape from Spectre (Spectre also rarely has the inventory space for  or a ).
 * Heroes that are strong in lane can cause a lot of problems for Spectre in the earily game, preventing her from getting farm and experience.
 * is also strong against her. She usually doesn't like building and will be prey of  and.

Items

 * will hard disable Spectre, and she rarely builds a to prevent this.
 * A (or  on ranged carries) 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 both Dispersion damage and burn will drastically increase the proc chance of Static Charge.
 * Spectre rarely has the inventory space for or a, and Haunt means she will sometimes attack away from her team. A  can usually be an easy escape (Spectral Dagger and Radiance will reveal your position while invisible, although she will be unable to attack you).
 * A upgraded into a  can be devastating for Spectre as the break component disables both Desolate and Dispersion.

Good against...

 * As Ancient Apparition like to stay far away from the fight to get full effectiveness from, he is a very good target for a Haunt gank. Ancient Apparition has no hard disables, so if Spectre wants to kill him, she will kill him.


 * Broodmother can usually be caught by Haunt, and Spectre can chase her inside the web with Spectral Dagger.
 * However, Spectre has very little solutions to deal with Spiderlings, but that should not be a problem to her since she can withstand their attacks and they can almost kill themselves from Dispersion.


 * Being 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 tank an entire and perhaps causing Crystal Maiden to kill herself from Dispersion.


 * Spectre can easily close the distance on Drow Ranger with Haunt and stick on her with Spectral Dagger, negating the bonus agility from.


 * 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; Desolate will quickly tear Sniper down.


 * Spectre can very easily close the distance on Lina with Haunt and Spectral Dagger and due to Lina's abysmal mobility without a 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.


 * Spectre can use Haunt to intercept and disrupt Magnus's initiation attempts.
 * Spectral Dagger can severely slow down Magnus after he uses.
 * Magnus often travels alone when he is trying to initiate, so Desolate can be very effective against him.


 * She can get to him anywhere on the map with Haunt (it is impossible to rat against Spectre).
 * Spectre pass through his trees with Spectral Dagger.
 * Desolate damage (he is almost always alone) will melt him quickly.


 * Desolate can bypass.
 * Spectre's durability and can withstand Phantom Assassin's attacks.


 * Spectre becomes very tanky late game. Hooking in a Spectre with Manta Style + Diffusal Blade will lead to quick death for Pudge.
 * But beware of hook ganks early game, because he will try to shut down Spectre quickly.


 * None of Spectre's spells are very good for Rubick to.
 * will only protect from Spectral Dagger and.


 * His global teleportation with +  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.
 * Cannot use 's miss chance for defense against Spectre since Desolate cannot miss.


 * Spectre can catch up to her with Spectral Dagger, even if she uses.
 * Spectre can instantly reach a ratting Windranger with Haunt.
 * '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 (Drow Ranger, Sniper, etc.) and supports (Dazzle, Shadow Shaman, etc.)
 * Heroes that rely on miss chance, such as Phantom Assassin and Troll Warlord are completely countered by Desolate.
 * Invisible heroes can usually be caught by Haunt, and Spectre can chase them, while simultaneously providing detection to her team.

Items

 * Spectre can intercept dependent initiators to aware her team, while simultaneously disrupting enemy engagements.

Works well with...

 * 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.


 * 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
 * Late game he 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 from the jungle


 * allows him to help Spectre with Haunt kills from anywhere on the map.
 * also gives global True Sight on enemy heroes, allowing Spectre to kill invisible targets with Haunt


 * Io's combined with Spectre's Haunt will allow for almost unlimited global presence. The enemy will be under constant danger, no matter where.


 * can reveal enemies on low health anywhere on the map (and provide True Sight) so Spectre can Haunt to a low health enemy for an easy kill.
 * can increase her damage from and Desolate.


 * Once both heroes get their ultimates, every time Haunt is off cooldown, Storm Spirit can easily jump in on a squishy support with and Spectre can Haunt in as backup, killing that support nearly instantly.


 * Haunt and being used together can constantly cause colossal global damage to the enemy team every cooldown cycle.


 * can reveal and weaken enemy targets for Spectre to use Haunt to score the finishing kill. Or it can be done the other way around.


 * 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 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.


 * 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.


 * 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.

Others

 * Lane supports in general can help Spectre secure last hits and control the lane:, ,
 * Any heroes with global abilities to 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