Dota 2: Spectre’s Role in the Current Meta

Here is how Spectre fits the current meta.

Nowadays, Dota 2 receives a lot of small changes, which is really different than before. As a result, there aren’t that many drastic meta changes. However, as small as they are, each new update brings something new to the table. Right now, many pro teams are trying to experiment with various different strategies. Some of them include popular core heroes which are played as supports, whereas others are sticking more to the classics.

Having said that, there is one hero that doesn’t seem to get that much attention in tho pro scene and that’s Spectre. This late-game monster used to be the go-to carry a few years go but since then, it seems like most pro teams are avoiding it. However, this doesn’t apply to the pub scene.

Right now, Spectre has around a 9% play rate and a jaw-dropping 55% win rating, which makes it one of the most successful pub heroes, according to DotaBuff. That’s not really that surprising because Spectre has always been one of the strongest pub heroes. However, the question is, how does she fit in the current meta?

Spectre in 7.26c

The latest Dota 2 update was mainly aimed at nerfing some of the talents in the game. Yet, one of the only heroes that actually received a buff was Spectre. Instead of +4 to all stats, her level 10 talent now provides +5. Although this buff might not seem that big, it’s still something.

One of the biggest issues of this hero is the fact that she needs a lot of gold. Even though the Spectre meta a few years ago was more early-mid game focused, it just doesn’t work that well now. As a result, this hero needs to farm a lot before she can fully unleash her potential.

However, this is not that easy right now because Valve decided to remove the gold given for denies. This might not seem that big of an issue at first. But for heroes such as Spectre, every piece of gold counts. As you know, this is not one of those heroes that is known for being a fast farmer. So, before she gets that Radiance, her farming speeds are just not good. When you add the lack of this additional gold, it makes getting that item even harder.

Another problem that Spectre has is that there are other carries out there that simply do her job better. Sure, they might not be that strong during the later stages of the game, but in most cases, this doesn’t matter. On the contrary, Valve tried to slow-down the pace of the game a lot, so if this trend continues, Spectre will definitely become more popular.

Conclusion

The main reason why most pro teams tend to avoid using Spectre is that the hero is just too slow and can be easily countered. Nevertheless, if you’re a pub player and you know that your bracket will not counter this hero, Spectre is one of the easiest ways of gaining MMR. All you need is one or two big team-fights where you get the kills. Once you get good timing on that Radiance, it’s just a matter of time before you go out of control.

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