The Heroes in Dota 2 - An Introductory Guide for Outworld Devourer

Introduction

There are many strong heroes in Dota 2. Some of them are famous for being incredibly tank while also doing damage, whereas others are known as "glass cannons." This means that they can easily be killed, but if they are alive, they can do some insane amounts of damage. Such heroes require a lot of knowledge about the game, skill, and practice. To enjoy the gameplay you can watch the AniMajor event, professional players often show the hero's cap, especially during such important tournaments.

Having said that, what if you want to play something in the middle? Something that has the good sides of both worlds? If that's the case, Outworld Devourer is definitely the hero for you.  Let's take a look at this incredible Dota 2 hero and see what his skills, items, and worst counters are.

Overview of the Outworld Devourer

OD is a short-ranged hero that uses Intelligence as his main source of damage. Although we've seen many efforts to put him in other lanes, this hero shines the most when he plays mid. In fact, he is one the strongest 1v1 mid laners in Dota 2, capable of destroying every single hero that lane against him. He is relatively tanky, has good movement speed, as well as a decent defensive spell, which allows him to sustain himself in most cases. 

It is possible to play OD as a carry too, but the line-up has to be very specific. Nevertheless, there were times where OD + Omniknight reigned supreme in every single game.

With that said, let's take a look at the spells of this awesome hero:

• Arcane Orb is one of the strongest (if not THE strongest) attack modifying ability in the game. Although it was changed numerous times throughout the years, it still remains an excellent option for every OD player out there. Currently, the spell allows OD to deal pure damage based on his current mana pool. Once the spell is leveled to 4, it does 11% of OD's current mana as damage. In other words, this hero can quickly kill supports with just a couple of attacks. What's more, the damage is pure, which means that it goes through armor, spell resistance, and all other kinds of defensive mechanisms. Needless to say, this is OD's most potent weapon during the late game.
• Astral Imprisonment is the spell that can secure Outworld Devourer a natural laning stage. Unlike his Arcane Orb, this ability can be used either offensive or defensively, depending on the situation. In both cases, it basically hides the targets from the map and makes it invulnerable for a couple of seconds. Once the duration is over, the hero, as well as every other enemy unit around him, will receive a certain amount of damage. This is an excellent way to flash-farm because you can clear the creep wave with just one Astral Imprisonment.
  Another cool thing about this ability is that it can be upgraded by getting an Aghanim's Scepter. Apart from more range, you will receive one additional charge of Astral Imprisonment, making it an incredibly deadly spell to play against during team-fights. After all, you can basically hide two of the enemy players.
• Essence Flux is a fascinating spell that's both active and passive. The passive benefit from it is that you have a 25% chance to restore 50% of the mana you used for the spell you've cast. In other words, if you are lucky enough, your Arcane Orb, Astral Imprisonment, or ultimate will only cost half the mana, which is pretty good. Apart from that, when you activate Essence Flux, the enemies you attack will be slowed by 44% for 1.75 seconds, which is more than enough to score a kill, especially if you have a couple of items.
• Sanity's  Eclipse is the "bomb" that Outworld Devourer drops every now and then. This is a charging ability that basically stacks when OD uses any of his other spells. Once you get enough stacks, you can easily one-shot every single hero in the game.  The cool thing about Sanity's Eclipse is that it also hits targets that are trapped in the Astral Imprisonment.
  This ultimate can potentially deal the highest damage in Dota 2, given the right circumstances. This means that you need to be very careful when you use it. After all, you wouldn't want to waste it for no reason.

Items and Counters

As we mentioned earlier, this hero definitely shines the most when he is played mid. An OD support is pretty much non-existent, which means that the item choices for this hero are relatively the same one every single core position. Here are some of the most popular ones:

• Black King Bar is a must for every unique OD if he wants to make the most out of his hero. After all, in order to be effective, this hero needs to be free to do a lot of damage.
• Scythe of Vyse is probably one of the most reliable items for every single OD. It gives him the chance to kill any single hero in a 1v1 scenario quickly.
• Blink Dagger can work wonders in some situations, depending on the heroes from your team.
• Shiva's Guard is a very solid option, especially when there are heroes that deal serious physical damage.

When it comes down to counters, there are a couple of heroes that are capable of making OD's life a living hell. The first one is Storm Spirit, even though might people might think this is an easy match up. Once the laning stage is over, this hero can single-handedly kill OD in just a matter of seconds if he has the proper items.

Apart from Storm, Slark and Lifestealer are also two heroes that are very good against OD.