Outworld Destroyer

Harbinger the Outworld Devourer is a ranged intelligence hero who qualifies as a carry, though unlike traditional carries, he excels against high-armor targets whilst being crippled by spell immunity. With Arcane Orb, his damage output is reliant on his intelligence attribute and the size of his mana pool, so he must focus more or less exclusively on items which augment them. Though he lacks somewhat in range and has no innate mobility skills, Arcane Orb deals Pure damage and steals intelligence, meaning that if he gains an advantage in a match he deals constant, colossal damage which cannot be decreased or resisted except with total spell immunity and gets stronger with each hit. He and his allies enjoy more-or-less unlimited mana because of his Essence Aura, which gives them a chance to replenish a percentage of their mana upon casting a spell. With Astral Imprisonment, Harbinger can render himself or an ally invulnerable for a short period of time, or disable the target enemy. His ultimate, Sanity's Eclipse, can instantly deal colossal area-of-effect damage against his enemies based on how much greater his intelligence is than theirs.

Tips

 * One of Harbinger's significant weaknesses is his fragility. Avoid taking in too much damage; if so, you will miss out on potential gold and experience, as well as put your team in danger by not dealing the needed extra damage against your enemies. Try to fight in the sidelines, or when your enemies are too busy to attack you. His defense can be boosted through items, but make sure not to deprive him of too much intelligence.
 * Try to level up as much as possible in the early stages of the game, be it from farming or killing other heroes. The more you advance in level, the more Intelligence and gold you will receive. The more Intelligence and gold you receive, the better you will dominate in the mid and later game. OD is extremely powerful in the later game, provided he farms well in the laning phase.
 * steals Intelligence from Heroes it hits. It is wise to build attack speed so you can release more attacks in a teamfight, so that more Intelligence can be stolen in a shorter span of time.
 * deals damage at the end of the duration, preventing Heroes with from escaping. However, use this ability with caution on Heroes with natural escape mechanisms, like  or, as the 4 second period would be enough to make them decide where to go and quickly move away to safety.
 * The damage would also be useful against creep waves. Use the ability on a creep last to be targeted, but surrounded by enough creeps so that after the duration, the damage would hit as much creeps as possible.
 * Other uses for it is that it can be used to delay enemy heroes you are laning against, preventing them from getting a last-hit or deny. In a teamfight, cast this on their carry or initiator, as this could lock out their main damage dealer and/or disabler from retaliating to your team's initiation.
 * It can also be used to buy time, be it escaping or trying to chase an enemy. While escaping, you can cast it on yourself or any dying ally to shift the enemy's focus away. While chasing, you can step ahead of the imprisoned enemy's path and make it harder for them to escape.
 * Use Astral Imprisonment carefully against your enemies when your allies are present in the team fight. Using it too much in these situations can potentially block your allies' spells, especially if they are channeling disables (i.e. 's Dismember). Use it when your teammates are out of disables, or when the enemies are in the process of escaping. As well, try to target other units that are currently not disabled or crippled by your teammates.
 * Because of its four second duration at level 1, it could be wise to level it first at the start of the game to either lock out a lone enemy or make securing runes or ganks easier.
 * Level up fairly quickly so that he can solve his mana problems. Essence Aura can also make a good support ability for your allies, especially if they rely heavily on casting spells. By level 3, Arcane Orb can be kept permanently on auto-cast, as the mana gained when the aura procs would be enough to keep your mana pool close to full.
 * Casting can prove important when a team fight starts, since it can shut down spell-reliant casters by burning 40% of their mana, as well as soften strength and agility heroes. Keep in mind that your Intelligence must be at least marginally higher than theirs so you can deal immense amounts of damage.
 * Upgraded with, you can lock an entire team in Astral Imprisonment and perhaps set up your team for a good initiation/counter-initiation. Upon being released from Imprisonment, they will also be dealt additional damage.
 * Outworld Devourer has no reliable escape until he gets a Force Staff. Frequent early ganks can put him at a severe disadvantage. Proper warding (by team mates) and map awareness are key.
 * In team fights, Astral Imprisonment can be used to shut down a key enemy character, such as a durable carry like Wraith King, so your team can focus on squishier supports. As Sanity's Eclipse can be used on imprisoned enemies, it may be preferable to initiate by imprisoning and immediately ulting the same target.
 * Other intelligence heroes, most notably  and, can render Sanity's Eclipse useless because of their rapid intelligence growth. Instead, focus on using your ultimate against other heroes whose main attribute is not intelligence.
 * Use Astral Imprisonment to block yourself (or an ally) from spells; slow-moving projectile spells like 's Homing Missile or 's Storm Hammer give you plenty of time to block them. Lethal spells like 's Epicenter or even 's Finger of Death can be rendered useless with good timing. Spells that cripple your movement and make you vulnerable for attack, like 's Kinetic Field, 's Ensnare, or 's Penitence, can be decreased in time thanks to Astral Imprisonment's 4 second invulnerability period.
 * 's Nether Ward will count Arcane Orb as a spell cast, so make sure to destroy it before liberally using Arcane Orb against other enemy heroes.
 * Arcane Orb deals bonus damage against illusions, making it harder for illusion-reliant heroes like or  to fight you. Summoned units also take additional damage, turning units like 's eidolons and 's treants into easy gold.
 * Outworld Devourer counters, since he can regain mana instantly from Essence Aura just by auto-casting with Arcane Orb. As well, the pure damage goes through his Spell Shield.
 * However, in certain situations when Outworld Devourer is silenced or stunned for an extended period of time, Anti-Mage's and, especially in combination with  and other heroes with mana drain like , can still use Outworld Devourer's massive mana pool against him.

Trivia

 * Outworld Devourer was originally called Obsidian Destroyer in DotA. Obsidian Destroyer was based off of two units in Warcraft III: Frozen Throne; the Obsidian Statue, and its alternate form, the Destroyer.
 * Outworld Devourer's original Dota 2 name was "Outworld Destroyer". This was changed to "Outworld Demolisher" on the Test Client, but due to community outcry, it was changed again when it arrived on the main client to his current name, "Outworld Devourer". Due to such name changes, there are many community humour names in circulation, such as "Outworld Developer".
 * Outworld Devourer has lines for carrying two, three or even even four Aghanim's Scepter. The reason for this is because in Dota 1 early development Aghanim's Scepter was made using Mystic Staff and a Soul Booster giving 500 mana and 30 int, which helped Outworld Devourer tremendously.