Editor’s Note: This guide is accurate as of Dota 2 patch 7.39e.

Core Vengeful Spirit has taken over ranked games in Dota 2. The once staple support hero has hovered around a ~55% win rate across all ranks for months as an offlaner, showing absolutely no sign of slowing down anytime soon—even in a meta packed with powerful offlaners!

While core Vengeful Spirit is nearly absent from Dota 2 pro games, the numbers don’t lie when it comes to her success in pubs. This guide breaks down the changes that enabled her rise and how you can apply them to your own games.

How Vengeful Spirit Became A Core Hero In Dota 2

Vengeful Spirit became viable as a core hero in Dota 2 patch 7.36 (May 22, 2024), when Valve added Innate and Facet abilities into the game. In particular, it was the addition of the Soul Strike facet that enabled all of Venge’s attacks to have melee attack behavior, without altering her range.

This simple change had a profound impact on Vengeful Spirit’s laning phase, giving her benefits such as reduced base attack time and the full damage bonus of Quelling Blade. It also meant Venge could leverage items that favor both melee and ranged heroes, like Manta Style and Dragon Lance.

Additionally, Vengeful Spirit’s updated Talent Tree gave her even more firepower. The usual talents let her gain damage on Nether Swap, additional armor reduction on Wave of Terror, and even a talent that allowed her to steal the reduced damage and armor from the ability.

In Dota 2 patch 7.38 (February 19, 2025), Vengeful Spirit was reverted from a Universal hero to an Agility one—a change that actually worked in her favor! To balance this change, Valve granted her huge base stat and base attack damage bonuses, further reinforcing her place as a viable core.

Why Core Vengeful Spirit Dominates Dota 2 Ranked Games

Aghanim’s Scepter

The main reason for core Vengeful Spirit’s high win rate in Dota 2 ranked games is her Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade. It’s so powerful that if Valve ever reworked it, she’d most likely return to being a support. Once purchased, Aghanim’s Scepter creates a replica of Vengeful Spirit upon death.

Venge Illusion

This illusion is capable of recasting all her abilities while dealing and taking normal damage. The upgrade also refreshes her spells, allows her to gain XP with the illusion, and even lets her buy back to instantly take its place. With a well-timed Aghs purchase, Venge can pretty much take over the game.

Nether Swap

While other heroes do their best to avoid death, Vengeful Spirit can commit to risky Nether Swaps since she can still contribute to the fight even if she goes down first. What’s more, swap targets are plentiful in uncoordinated pub games, which lets her team snowball a massive lead from ganks.

Soul Strike and Wave of Terror

Beyond that, Soul Strike offers core Vengeful Spirit melee attack properties on ranged blows—a broken trait in the lane that sees her lead in last hits and denies. Her spammable Wave of Terror fits nicely into the meta of physical damage cores like QoP and Puck, who also build items to empower their right-clicks.

Why Pros Still Don’t Pick Vengeful Spirit In Dota 2

The strengths of offlane Vengeful Spirit in pub games are lost in translation at the professional level. During The International 2025 (TI14), Venge was picked exactly once in the matchup between NAVI and Tidebound.

While core Vengeful Spirit’s laning phase is advantageous, it simply isn’t an issue that pros can’t circumvent with smart pulling and creep wave dragging. In addition, Nether Swap isn’t reliable when the best teams have vision secured and their jungle dewarded.

Without her early game kill advantage, Vengeful Spirit just doesn’t have fast enough clearing times to help her scale faster. At the pro level, supports are also on point with stacking neutral camps—something that Venge can’t clear efficiently enough for a gold boost.

Lastly, pros are well aware of her power spike and won’t let her farm Aghanim’s Scepter without a fight. In the few Dota 2 pro games with core Vengeful Spirit, enemy teams were more aggressive in their invades to deny her free farm.

How To Play Core Vengeful Spirit In Dota 2 Ranked Games

Early Game

Vengeful Spirit has a simple game plan and plenty of builds that can provide consistency throughout your Dota 2 games. During the laning phase, you’ll want to contest every creep and trade with your support using Wave of Terror. We suggest starting items like Quelling Blade, Iron Branches, Circlet, and Tango.

As a core Vengeful Spirit, you’ll want to max out Wave of Terror, followed by Magic Missile. You can ignore Vengeance Aura until those two abilities are at max level. When played right, you should be able to score an early kill or two. At the very least, they’ll be huddled near their tower.

Mid Game

Vengeful Spirit’s weakest stage comes right after the laning phase and before completing Aghanim’s Scepter. During this period, focus on efficient farming, catching waves, self-stacking with Wave of Terror, and chipping away at nearby hard camps to stay on pace for your core items.

If everything goes to plan, you should have enough gold to purchase Aghanim’s Scepter within 15-20 minutes. At this point, Vengeful Spirit is at her strongest, and you should look to capitalize on this spike by ganking enemy cores and pressuring key objectives like towers or Roshan.

Late Game

After that, you’ll need to scale with more stat items like Dragon Lance, Manta Style, or even Vladimir’s Offering. You can buy an Aghanim’s Shard if teamfights are frequent early on in the game for the bouncing Magic Missile, then upgrade to Hurricane Pike for extra survivability.

An important tip for core Vengeful Spirit players is always to reserve enough gold for buyback—and use it without hesitation. Her buyback is far more impactful than most heroes’, allowing her to instantly rejoin the fight using her illusion and turn losing engagements into decisive victories.

Should You Play Core Vengeful Spirit In Dota 2 Patch 7.39e?

Absolutely. You definitely should try core Vengeful Spirit in Dota 2 patch 7.39e in ranked lobbies. She has one of the highest win rates, offering a strong early game with solid kill potential, mid-game pickoffs with Nether Swap, and the ability to swap the enemy carry in the late game without fear.

Just keep in mind that Venge is a snowball-heavy hero who struggles without her Aghanim’s Scepter. This can leave your teammates without an offlaner until her power spike. Core Vengeful Spirit has stayed strong for a year’s worth of patches, and it’s not too late to try her out.

FAQs

Why is core Vengeful Spirit so strong in ranked Dota 2 games?

Vengeful Spirit has benefited from frequent buffs to her stats and Talent Tree, solidifying her status as a viable core pick in Dota 2.

What position is Vengeful Spirit best played in Dota 2?

Vengeful Spirit performs best as an offlaner in Dota 2, primarily due to her Aghanim’s Scepter upgrade, which allows her to remain impactful even after death. However, she’s still a reliable support.

What are the best items for core Vengeful Spirit in Dota 2?

Core Vengeful Spirit thrives on early stat-based items and Power Treads before rushing Aghanim’s Scepter. Afterward, items like Dragon Lance, Manta Style, and Hurricane Pike help her scale into a durable late-game core.

Why don’t pros play Vengeful Spirit core in Dota 2?

At the pro level, teams are more adept at playing around Vengeful Spirit’s Nether Swap through securing and denying vision. Additionally, she’s a pushover until she gets her Aghanim’s Scepter timing, allowing pro teams to take advantage of her early vulnerability.

Is core Vengeful Spirit likely to get nerfed?

Core Vengeful Spirit has seen slight nerfs, but this shouldn’t bother her too much as long as Aghanim’s Scepter effect remains the same.