Io
Hero
Io
    17 + 3
14 + 1.6
23 + 1.7
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Io, the Wisp, is a ranged strength hero who works best as part of a communicative team. With its support-oriented skill set, Io can share its healing and buffs through Tether and Overcharge, harass enemy heroes out of the lane with Spirits, and materialize itself and an ally anywhere on the map with Relocate.
Gank enemy heroes, push undefended lanes, save teammates from deep within enemy territory—the possibilities are endless, and Io features one of the highest skill ceilings in the game.
Io's facing direction is marked by an arc-like effect.
Contents
Bio[edit]
Io, the Wisp▶️ "beep boop"
Lore:
Io is everywhere, and in all things. Denounced by enemies as the great unmaker, worshiped by scholars as the twinkling of a divine eye, this strange Wisp of life-force occupies all planes at once, the merest fraction of its being crossing into physical existence at any one moment.
Like the great twin riders Dark and Light, and yet another ancient traveler whose true history is lost to the ages, Io the Wisp is a Fundamental of the universe, a force older than time, a wanderer from realms far beyond mortal understanding. Io is nothing less than the sum of all attractive and repulsive forces within the material field, a sentient manifestation of the charge that bind existence together. It is only in the controlled warping of these electrical waylines that Io's presence can be experienced on the physical plane. A benevolent, cooperative force, Io bonds its strange magnetism to others so that the power of allies might be enhanced. Its motives inscrutable, its strength unimaginable, Io moves through the physical plane, the perfect expression of the mysteries of the universe.
Like the great twin riders Dark and Light, and yet another ancient traveler whose true history is lost to the ages, Io the Wisp is a Fundamental of the universe, a force older than time, a wanderer from realms far beyond mortal understanding. Io is nothing less than the sum of all attractive and repulsive forces within the material field, a sentient manifestation of the charge that bind existence together. It is only in the controlled warping of these electrical waylines that Io's presence can be experienced on the physical plane. A benevolent, cooperative force, Io bonds its strange magnetism to others so that the power of allies might be enhanced. Its motives inscrutable, its strength unimaginable, Io moves through the physical plane, the perfect expression of the mysteries of the universe.
Abilities[edit]
Tethers Io to an allied unit, granting bonus movement speed to both. When Io restores health or mana, tethered units target gains a larger portion of that amount. Enemies touching the tether have their movement and attack speed slowed. The tether breaks when the allied unit moves too far away, or Io cancels the tether.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Cast Range: 1600
Tether Break Distance: 900
Tether Pull Distance: 700
Tether Break Distance During Pull: 2150
Heal/Restore Transfer: 60%/80%/100%/120%
Target Move Speed Bonus: 6%/8%/10%/12% (
16%/18%/20%/22%)
16%/18%/20%/22%)Enemy Move Speed Slow: 15%/25%/35%/45%
Enemy Attack Speed Slow: 15/25/35/45
Slow Duration: 0.2
Tether Damage: 150 Tether Stun Duration: 1.75 Tether Stun Refresh Interval: 7.1
12
40
Tether stuns enemies touching it for 1.75 seconds and deals 150 damage. Does not affect the same unit more than once every 7.1 seconds. Increases movement speed bonus by 10%.Modifiers
modifier_wisp_tether: Dispellable with death only. modifier_wisp_tether_haste: Dispellable with death only.
modifier_wisp_tether_slow: Dispellable with any dispel. modifier_stunned: Dispellable with strong dispels.The benevolent touch of Io brings strength from between the planes.
Notes:
- Tethering a unit that is 700 units or further away causes Io to latch on and pull itself to the target.
- Pulls Io at a speed of 1000, until coming within 300 range of the target.
- Can pull Io over impassable terrain.
- Destroys trees within 350 radius around Io right after the pull.
- If Io breaks the tether while getting pulled to the tethered target, the pull immediately stops.
- The pull gets interrupted when Io gets stunned, hexed, hidden, feared, hypnotized, or rooted during the pull.
- Forced Movement cancels the pull as well, but only after the movement ends, and not upon getting applied.
- Taunts, leashes, and silences do not interrupt the pulling.
- If the distance between Io and the target gets greater than 900 or 2150 during the pull, the Tether breaks.
- When the distance between Io and the tethered target gets greater than 700, the link's visual appearance changes.
- Tether has no set duration. It breaks only when exceeding the break distances, when Io or the target dies, when affected by an allied Dismember, or when using the Break Tether sub-ability.
- The movement speed bonus is only applied to the tethered ally, while Io copies the target ally's movement speed.
- Set Io's base movement speed equal to the base speed of the target and any speed bonuses it has, flat and percentage.
- If the target gets slowed, Io's movement speed does not copy the movement speed loss caused by the slow.
- However, Io can be slowed directly by movement speed slowing effects, and cannot have its movement speed increased by other sources.
- The tethered unit benefits from Overcharge, Relocate, and from Io regenerating or replenishing health and mana.
- Tethered units still benefit from all those effects even when turning invulnerable or hidden.
- The heal and mana restore transfer happen regardless of how much Io actually healed/restored, the percentage is applied after all reductions and amplifications, and will be multiplied by the tethered unit's own heal and mana restore manipulation.
- If Io is tethered to an invisible unit, enemies can only see a fake link leading to the invisible unit's last known location.
- The movement speed slow gets applied to every enemy that is in contact with the tether link on each server tick.
- With the level 25
talent, Io performs instant attacks on every enemy the tethered ally attacks.
- These instant attacks can proc any attack modifiers and on-hit effects normally. They do not have True Strike.
- The attacks are performed as soon as the ally launches their attack (including instant attacks from the ally) and if Io is capable of attacking (i.e. if it isn't disarmed or stunned etc.). It does not matter whether the attack actually hits or not.
- Does not perform attacks when the tethered target also has this talent (i.e. an illusion of Io).
- With Aghanim's Shard, the damage and stun are applied to every enemy that is in contact with the tether link.
- An enemy can only be damaged and stunned once every 7.1 seconds. This duration starts at the beginning of the stun.
- The tether stun refresh interval is affected by status resistance. An enemy with 25% status resistance will be stunned for 1.31 seconds once every 5.33 seconds.
Notes:
- Replaces Tether until the sub-ability is used or the tether is broken.
- Interrupts Io's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Break Tether goes on a 0.25-second cooldown when Tether is cast, this is to prevent accidental double-casts and prematurely ending the ability.
Summon five particle spirits that dance in a circle around Io. If a particle collides with an enemy hero, it explodes, damaging all enemy units in an area around it. Creeps take minor damage from touching a particle spirit, but do not cause them to explode. When its duration ends, any remaining Spirits explode.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Collision Radius: 110
Explosion Radius: 360
Collision Damage: 10/15/20/25
Explosion Damage: 30/50/70/90 ( 90/110/130/150)
90/110/130/150)Spirit Spawn Interval: 1 (
0.8)
0.8)Maximum Spirits: 5
Spirits Spawned Per Cast: 5 ( Infinite)
Infinite)Duration: 19 ( Infinite)
Infinite) 26/ 120/
Spirits now passively spawn around you constantly every second. Max of 5.
The passive spirits spawning is not disabled by Break.Modifiers
modifier_wisp_spirits: Dispellable with death only.Io twists the particles of the universe with his unimaginable capabilities.
Notes:
- Interrupts Io's channeling abilities upon cast.
- 5 spirits are summoned over the course of 4 seconds so that the distance between each spirit is equal.
- The first spirit is always spawned to the north of Io, with the following spirits spawning in 1-second interval behind the previous spirit.
- The spirits expand automatically to their maximum distance upon cast.
- The spirits always rotate clockwise and are locked to Io's location, following it wherever it goes.
- Moving the Spirits In and Spirits Out does not break their formation. They always rotate in a circle and keep equal distance from each other.
- The spirits complete a revolution every 2.7 seconds regardless of distance from Io.
- Their angular velocity is constant, meaning their speed increases the further away they are from the caster.
- This means the first created spirit can rotate at most 7 times around Io.
- When a non-hero unit comes within the 110 collision radius of the spirits, it takes the 10/15/20/25 collision damage.
- When a hero comes within collision radius, the spirit explodes, dealing the 30/50/70/90 explosion damage within 360 radius.
- Spirits do not collide with or explode on invulnerable or hidden heroes.
- Remaining spirits explode simultaneously at the end of the duration or if recast, dealing the explosion damage around them.
- Spirits provide 150 radius flying vision for 3 seconds at the location where they collided with a hero.
- They do not provide vision when exploding caused by expiring or recasting.
- The spirits are invisible to the enemy if Io is invisible.
- Can deal up to 150/250/350/450 ( 450/550/650/750) damage to a single unit when all 5 spirits explode on a target (before reductions).
- Treats creep-heroes as heroes and illusions as creeps.
- With Aghanim's Scepter, Spirits turns into a passive ability, with both Spirits In and Spirits Out sub-abilities are permanently active, and makes it constantly spawn spirits around Io.
- Acquiring Aghanim's Scepter while a cast is already active, the spirits from that cast disappear without exploding.
- When losing Aghanim's Scepter, the spirits from it do not disappear, and last until colliding with an enemy or until Io dies.
- Despite the tooltip, the spirits now spawn in 0.8-second intervals.
Spirits In
DD
DD
Ability
Toggle
Toggle
Calls the spirits closer to you. Can be toggled on and off.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Min Distance: 200
0Notes:
- This ability is hidden if Io does not have the spirits buff.
- Does not interrupt Io's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Moves the spirits towards Io at a speed of 250. It takes 1.8 ( 3) seconds from moving the spirits from maximum to minimum distance.
Spirits Out FE
FE
Ability
Toggle
Toggle
Sends the spirits farther away from you. Can be toggled on and off.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Max Distance: 650 ( 950)
950) 0Notes:
- This ability is hidden if Io does not have the spirits buff.
- Does not interrupt Io's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Moves the spirits away from Io at a speed of 250. It takes 1.8 ( 3) seconds from moving the spirits from minimum to maximum distance.
Overcharge
Ability
No Target
No Target
Affects
Self / Allies
Self / Allies
Io gains bonus attack speed, spell amplification, and HP Regen based on max health. If Io is tethered to an ally, that unit also gains the bonuses.
Cast Animation: 0+0
Attack Speed Bonus: 50/70/90/110
Max Health as Health Regen Bonus: 0.5%/0.6%/0.7%/0.8%
Spell Damage Bonus: 10%/12%/14%/16%
Duration: 8
22/ 40/Modifiers
modifier_wisp_overcharge: Dispellable with death only.Drawing on the energy of matter from all worlds, Io begins the unravelling of time.
Notes:
- Interrupts Io's channeling abilities upon cast.
- Io does not need to be already tethered to the target transfer the Overcharge. Tethering afterwards transfers it as well.
- The Overcharge on allies does not show a duration, and always appears like a permanent buff.
- Can regenerate up to 4%/4.8%/5.6%/6.4% of Io's max health over the duration.
- With Tether, Can restore up to 4%/4.8%/5.6%/6.4% of the target's max health, plus 2.4%/3.84%/5.6%/7.68% of Io's max health on the tethered ally over the duration.
Ability
Target Point
Target Point
Affects
Self / Allied Heroes
Self / Allied Heroes
Teleports Io and any tethered ally to any location. After the spell expires Io and any tethered ally will return to their original location. Double-click to teleport to your team's base fountain.
Cast Animation: 0+0.53
Cast Range: Global
Effect Delay: 3.5/3.25/3
Duration: 12
100/ 70/60/50) 175
Modifiers
modifier_wisp_relocate_thinker: Undispellable. Persists death. modifier_teleporting: Dispellable with death only. modifier_wisp_relocate_return: Dispellable with death only.Io is the embodiment of the mystery of the universe.
Notes:
- ↓↓ Double-tapping automatically targets the team's fountain.
- Can be cast on allies who have ☐ Disabled Help from Io, but prevents Io from relocating the respective ally.
- If Io is stunned, slept, cycloned, or hexed during the effect delay, Relocate gets cancelled.
- Can be cast while Io is rooted, but the teleport does not happen when still rooted after the delay.
- If Io is silenced as the delay finishes, the teleport does not happen either.
- Disabling the tethered ally of Io does not prevent the ally from getting teleported if Io successfully does so.
- The returning teleportation cannot be prevented.
- Enemies get a ‼ Ping on their minimap during the teleport delay, showing them where Relocate was targeted.
- Creates a visual effect at the targeted point during the teleport delay, which is visible to everyone.
- Creates a visual effect at Io's position before the teleport happens, which also is visible to everyone.
- Relocate interrupts channeling abilities and every current order of Io and the tethered ally both on initial teleport, and when teleporting back.
- Disjoints projectiles for Io upon teleporting to the targeted point, but does not disjoint upon teleporting back.
- Does not disjoint projectiles for the teleported ally, neither upon teleporting to the target point, nor upon teleporting back.
- Io may break its Tether at any time to prevent bringing an ally back.
- Can only teleport heroes, illusions and creep-heroes.
- Teleports invulnerable and hidden targets.
- Destroys trees within 300 radius around Io upon both teleports.
Talents[edit]
| Hero Talents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Attack Tethered Ally's Target | 25 | +900 Health |
| -30s Relocate Cooldown | 20 | +60 Spirits Hero Damage |
| 15% Spell Lifesteal | 15 | +300 Spirits Max Range |
| +30 Damage | 10 | +5 Health Regen |
Notes:
- This attack damage talent is added as raw attack damage, so it does not benefit illusions, and is not affected by most percentage-based damage increasing or reducing effects.
- The spell lifesteal talent stacks additively with other sources of spell lifesteal.
- The spell lifesteal talent heals for 3% from non-hero units. Treats creep-heroes as creeps and does not heal off of illusions.
- The health talent increases maximum health capacity, and keeps the current health percentage.
Recent Changes[edit]
Main Article: Io/Changelogs
Version
Description
- Tether
- The level 25 talent now only perform instant attacks when Io is capable of attacking.
- No longer unlocks max movement speed.
- Reduced cast range from 1800 to 1000.
- The level 25
- Reduced Spirits collision damage from 10/20/30/40 to 10/15/20/25.
- Reduced Spirits Out max distance from 700 to 650.
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Tether now stuns enemies upon connecting with the link, rather than on breaking the link. Does not affect the same unit more than once every 7 seconds.
- Talents:
- Level 10 left talent: +35 attack damage reduced to +30.
- Level 10 right talent: +4 health regen increased to +5.
- Level 15 left talent: +10% spell lifesteal reduced to +15%.
- Level 15 right talent: +325 Spirits max distance reduced to +300.
- Level 20 right talent: -25s Relocate cooldown increased to -30s.
- Level 25 right talent: +700 health increased to +900.
- Aghanim's Shard upgrade:
- Increases Tether target movement speed bonus from 5% to 10%.
- Now requires turning to perform any actions. [?]
- Increased base attack damage from 22-31 to 28-34.
- Increased attack point from 0.15 to 0.3.
- Tether
- Rescaled allied movement speed bonus from 5%/8%/11%/14% to 6%/8%/10%/12%.
- Increased enemy movement speed slow from 8%/16%/24%/32% to 15%/25%/35%/45%.
- Reduced heal/restore transfer from 60%/90%/120%/150% to 60%/80%/100%/120%.
- Spirits
- Increased explosion damage from 20/40/60/80 to 30/50/70/90.
- Increased creep collision damage from 10/18/26/34 to 10/20/30/40.
- Split Spirits Movement sub-ability up into Spirits In and Spirits Out.
- Old Spirits Movement
- Calls the spirits in and out.
- Minimum distance: 200
- Maximum distance: 700
- Cooldown: 0
- Notes: Takes Spirits's ability slot until all spirits explode. Not a toggle ability. Causes the spirits to move inwards/outwards, based on whether they are at minimum or maximum distance, or whether they already are moving in or out. Cannot be used to make the spirits stop at a precise distance.
- New Spirits In / Spirits Out
- Sends the spirits closer to you. Can be toggled on and off. / Sends the spirits farther away from you. Can be toggled on and off.
- Minimum distance: 200
- Maximum distance: 700
- Cooldown: 0
- Notes: Take the 5th and 6th ability slots, only visible while Spirits is active. Both are toggles, meaning the distances can be set precisely by toggling them off at the wanted distance. Toggling one of them on automatically toggles the other one off.
- Overcharge
- Now also grants 10%/12%/14%/16% spell damage amplification.
- Reduced attack speed bonus from 50/80/110/140 to 50/70/90/110.
- Increased Relocate cooldown from 90/75/60 to 100/90/80.
- Added Aghanim's Shard upgrade for Io:
- Increases Tether movement speed bonus by 5% and causes it to deal 150 damage and stun enemies within its slow range for 1.75 upon getting broken in any way.
Recommended Items[edit]
Starting items:
- Tango provides health regeneration to Io and a lane partner, thanks to Tether.
- Healing Salve keeps Io and ally up in health during the early game.
- Clarity sustains Io and ally with mana to use abilities.
- Enchanted Mango gives some health regeneration, as well as mana restoration.
- Gauntlets of Strength increases strength so Io can hit harder and has more health. It also builds into Soul Ring.
Early game:
- Bottle, available at the Secret Shop, restores both ally's health and mana with Tether.
- Urn of Shadows heals Io while Tether passes that healing to an allied target.
- Magic Stick instantly restores mana and health to both Io and a tethered ally.
- Soul Ring grants strength and health regeneration. More importantly, Io can pass the created mana to the tethered ally so both parties can use their respective abilities. Consider items like Tranquil Boots or Helm of the Dominator that boost health regeneration to sustain the health cost of Soul Ring.
Mid game:
- Magic Wand gives attributes and a bit more amount of heal compared to Magic Stick.
- Spirit Vessel, upgraded from Urn of Shadows, increases regeneration and healing for Io to keep allies healthy, while providing bonus health and movement speed to boost Io's survivability.
- Arcane Boots restore a large amount of mana to Io and allies with Tether.
- Mekansm heals Io's tethered partner for much more than the standard 275. It also provides an armor and health regeneration aura to boost survivability.
- Helm of the Dominator provides extra health regeneration for tethered allies, and has an attack speed aura that stacks with Overcharge. It also allows Io to dominate a creep to take advantage of its auras and abilities, as well as boosting the movement speed of both parties thanks to Tether, giving Io an option of skipping buying boots.
Late game:
- Guardian Greaves, built from Mekansm and Arcane Boots to save an item slot, restore huge amount of health and mana to Io and its team, especially with Tether.
- Glimmer Cape allows Io or allied target to escape from enemies with invisibility and magic resistance.
- Ghost Scepter shields Io from physical attacks, so it stays alive longer to help allies.
- Heart of Tarrasque gives a huge amount of health and health regeneration, increasing the tethered allies health regeneration and survivality.
- Mjollnir provides huge damage output, which allows taking down tethered ally's targets (with the appropriate talent taken) rapidly.
Situational items:
- Tome of Knowledge grants experience to help Io reach its talents.
- Tranquil Boots heals Io and tethered allies more if they do not need the mana from Arcance Boots.
- Drum of Endurance gives cost efficient attribute bonuses and further boosts Io's and its partner's attack and movement speed.
- Pipe of Insight grants aura of health regeneration and magic resistance, a great item to absorb magical damage.
- Vladmir's Offering has useful aura with many perks, including bonus attack damage and lifesteal, enabling allied physical attackers.
- Solar Crest further buffs allied targets with attack speed, movement speed, and armor. Moreover, Io can use it on the enemies to slow and removes their armor.
- Force Staff provides useful ability to position different heroes, including Io.
- Holy Locket enhances Io's healing power, as well as strengthening its defense with bonus health and magic resistance.
- Heaven's Halberd gives strength, evasion, status resistance, and the ability to disarm an enemy carry.
- Scythe of Vyse provides a valuable disable, some useful attribute bonuses, as well as mana regeneration which can pass on to tethered ally.
- Desolator adds damage and applies armor reduction on enemies; works better in the late game after taking talent that lets Io attack tethered ally's target.
Gameplay[edit]
| Roles: | Support Escape Nuker |
|---|---|
| Complexity: | ★★★ |
| Playstyle: | The phenomenon that is Io manifests on the physical plane as a wisp of light, its purpose beyond mortal understanding. It flits to and fro the battlefield, searching for an ally to Tether to. Those blessed with Io's bond feel their feet lighten as the Wisp channels its own regenerative powers into their body. Should its host falter, Io begins to Overcharge, augmenting that ally's speed while strengthening his resolve. As a force unbound by the laws of corporeal space, Io is able to temporarily Relocate itself and an ally to any point in the world, often saving a companion from certain death. |
Audio[edit]
History[edit]
Equipment[edit]
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Trivia[edit]
- Io is the name of a priestess of Hera in Greek Mythology. She was seduced by Zeus and subsequently incurred Hera's wrath.
- Io is also the name of one of four Galilean moons of Jupiter, which was named after the same character in Greek Mythology.
- Io's fun names in DotA were Weird Ball and Santelmo. Santelmo may refer to St. Elmo's Fire, a weather phenomenon that creates sparks of bright energy similar to that of lightning, mostly occurring from sharply pointed structures. Santelmo may also refer to the Philippine's folklore creature which is a head of fire, or a ball of fire which Io resembles.
- Enigma, Chaos Knight, Keeper of the Light, and Io together represent the four fundamental forces of the universe with Io representing the electromagnetic force, as alluded to in its lore as the attractive and repulsive force, the charge that binds existence together, its powers over magnetism, as well as its abilities which requires Io to pull itself towards allies.
- Io has several "tentacles" that randomly palpate any visible unit within 256 range of it, enemies and alles alike, randomly switching between units every few seconds. This is purely for aesthetic purposes. A hidden modifier ("modifier_wisp_tentacles") is responsible for this effect.
Gallery[edit]
Splash artwork
Io model (sprite)
Alternate color theme, briefly used until the March 28, 2013 Patch
Ability icon progress [?]
Hero icon progress [?]
