Here are the best builds and counters for Spirit Breaker

By Kenneth Williams

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Jan 17, 2022

Reading time: 4 min

Learning how to play Spirit Breaker is a great to quickly rank up in Dota 2 patch 7.30e.

Spirit Breaker is one of the most infamous heroes in Dota 2. His Charge of Darkness is a constant threat, and his Greater Bash always seems to hit way more than 17% of the time. Spirit Breaker is the picture-perfect ganking hero, which is awesome for patch 7.30e. Meta. If you want to bag some MMR before the next patch, read on to learn how to play Spirit Breaker off lane.

What position is Spirit Breaker?

Spirit Breaker is almost entirely played in the off-lane position, but he has been a position four or five at several points in the past. His unique toolkit is all about initiation and tanking enemy spells. Off-lane Spirit Breaker isn’t as versatile as other picks like Centaur Warrunner or Mars, but his initiation is second-to-none. With farm priority, Spirit Breaker can cause mayhem in team fights and lead gank parties with confidence.

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Position-four Spirit Breaker gets less gold and experience, but he is played almost the exact same way. The only real difference is the laning stage, where he pays attention to mid and the safe lane. Soft support Spirit Breaker is also in charge of specific counter items. If you plan to play Spirit Breaker support, pay special attention to the situational items section of our build guide.

The best build for Spirit Breaker

Spirit Breaker’s hyper-focused playstyle means a fairly rigid item build. Based on match data, the best build for Spirit Breaker takes advantage of his high stats and natural movement speed to create a ganking machine.

Charge of Darkness seems like a really good ability level one, but remember that its stun is taken from Greater Bash. It doesn’t do much without it, so take Bash first and max it. Early levels in Charge of Darkness will help you make plays in the lane.

Bulldoze is a very strong ability, but it’s best to save it for later. The status resistance doesn’t matter much until the enemy spells become more impactful. For talents, Spirit Breaker’s high starting stats and solid stat gain mean that armor and damage don’t do much for him. The utility gained from increased night vision and reduced Bulldoze cooldown have significantly higher win rates.

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As for items, it all comes down to Greater Bash and Charge of Darkness. Phase Boots and Echo Sabre grant more movement speed to chase fleeing enemies and buff Bash damage. Echo gives you two bites at the apple to Bash your charged target. Shadow Blade and Aghanim’s Scepter buff Charge of Darkness from an amazing ganking tool to one of the best spells in the game. In a matter of seconds, you can be on top of anyone wasting their spell immunity all while invisible. Black King Bar helps you maneuver in team fights and escape if needed.

The situational items section is all about specific counters to certain heroes. Spirit Vessel is a necessary pickup against heroes like Alchemist and Huskar who rely on healing over a long period of time. Spirit Breaker’s gank potential should keep it topped up on charges. Silver Edge is valuable against heroes with strong passives like Enchantress and Bristleback. If an enemy Medusa, Gyrocopter, or Marci is putting up a fight, Heaven’s Halberd is a good way to shut them down.

How to counter Spirit Breaker

Spirit Breaker can seem overwhelming to play against. His bash can shut down spell immunity on heroes like Lifestealer and Juggernaut, and his global presence makes it hard to split-push. but there are a few heroes that he can struggle with.

The stats show that characters that can shut down Charge are the best counters to Spirit Breaker. Ember Spirit can dodge it with his remnants and Sleight of Fist. Underlord’s Pit of Malice is a great way to stop Charge and Firestorm’s percentage-based damage quickly wears him down. Tiny is an honorable mention. He can throw out Avalanche to stop Charge and Nether Strike before they reach their targets.

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If you get caught off-guard in the draft phase, there are a few items you can buy to fight against him. Eul’s Scepter of Divinity stops Charge and prevents Nether Strike’s long cast point from finishing. Scythe of Vyse’s instant hex does the same. Force Staff is another good way to escape, and Ghost Scepter prevents him from Bashing you into the next century.

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