Io

Io

The Radiant

17 + 1.9 14 + 1.6 23 + 1.7

Level 1 16 25 Hit Points 473 1043 1708 Mana 299 650 1079 Damage 43-52 73-82 108-117 Armor -0.04 3.6 8.08 Attacks / Second 0.67 0.82 1.01

Movement Speed 295 Turn Rate 0.7 Sight Range 1800/800 Attack Range 575 Missile Speed 1600 Attack Duration 0.15+0.4 Cast Duration 0.001+0 Base Attack Time 1.7

Io the Guardian Wisp is a highly unique ranged strength hero who works best as part of a communicative team. With his support-oriented skill set, Io is able to share his strength through Tether and Overcharge, harass enemy heroes out of the lane with Spirits, and materialize himself 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.

Bio

Io, the Guardian Wisp Play Role: Support / Lane Support / Nuker 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, Wisp 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. Wisp is nothing less than the sum of all attractive and repulsive forces within matter, a sentient manifestation of the charge that bind particles together. It is only in the controlled warping of these forces that Wisp’s presence can be experienced on the physical plane. A benevolent, cooperative force, Wisp bonds its strength to others so that the power of allies might be enhanced. Its motives inscrutable, its strength unimaginable, Wisp moves through the physical plane, the perfect expression of the mysteries of the universe. Voice: Himself (Responses)

Abilities

Tether Q T Ability Affects Target Unit Allies Tether yourself to an allied unit or hero, granting both of you bonus movement speed. When you restore health or mana, your target gains 1.5 times the amount. Any enemy unit that crosses the tether is stunned. The tether breaks when the allied unit moves too far away, or Io cancels the tether. Range: 1800 Maximum Radius: 900 Tether Duration: 12 Stun Duration: 0.75/1.25/1.75/2.25 Bonus Movement Speed: 20% 12 40 The benevolent touch of Io brings strength from between the planes.

Notes: If you try to tether a unit that is 700 units or further away from Io, he will latch on and pull himself closer to the target (to a distance of 300). The tethered unit will benefit from Overcharge, Relocate, and from Io regenerating HP/mana. Has a sub-ability that lets you break the tether. A unit may only be stunned once per cast of tether.

Tether Break Q T Ability No Target Break the link to the tethered unit.

Notes: Replaces Tether while you are connected with an ally.

Spirits W W Ability Damage No Target Magical Summon five spirits that dance in a circle around Io, damaging all that they hit around you. If a spirit hits an enemy hero, it explodes, damaging all enemy units in an area around it. Creeps take minor damage from touching a spirit, but don't cause them to explode. Radius of explosion: 300 Duration: 19 Damage to Heroes: 25/50/75/100 Damage to non-Heroes: 8/14/20/26 20/18/16/14 120/130/140/150 Io twists the particles of the universe with his unimaginable capabilities.

Notes: You gain 2 sub-abilities to control how far away from Io the spirits orbit. Spirits are summoned over the course of four seconds. The spirits complete a revolution every ~2.3 seconds regardless of distance from Io. (Their angular velocity is constant, meaning that spirits move more quickly when further from Io.) All unspent spirits will simultaneously detonate at the end of the duration or if recast, dealing full damage to nearby creeps and heroes. Spirits briefly provide vision over heroes they collide with.

Spirits In D D Ability Toggle Calls the spirits closer to you. Can be toggled on and off.

Spirits Out F E Ability Toggle Sends the spirits farther away from you. Can be toggled on and off.

Overcharge E V Ability Affects Toggle Self Io gains bonus attack speed and damage reduction, at the cost of draining HP and mana per second. If Io is Tethered to an ally, that unit also gains the bonuses. Bonus Attack Speed: 40/50/60/70 Incoming Damage Reduction: 5%/10%/15%/20% HP/Mana Drain: 4.5% Drawing on the energy of matter from all worlds, Io begins the unravelling of time.

Relocate R R Ability Target Point Teleport yourself and any tethered ally to any location on the map. After the spell expires you and any tethered ally will return to where you teleported from. Range: Global Delay before teleport: 2.5/2.25/2 Duration: 12 90/75/60 100 Io is the embodiment of the mystery of the universe.

Notes: There is a casting delay and the enemy has a visual indicator on the minimap at the target location before the teleport occurs. If Io is interrupted during the this casting delay, Relocate will be cancelled. If an allied hero is Tethered, that hero will be teleported along with you. You can break the tether at any time to prevent that hero from teleporting with you. Relocate does interrupt chanelling and casting time abilities both on initial teleport, and when going back. You may Relocate and then follow up with a Tether to an allied hero to bring back with you at the end of the duration. If Io is Tethered to a unit, the Tether's duration will be refreshed upon casting Relocate.

Recommended items

Explanation: Io is a hard support hero with only one major offensive spell, and so his recommended build focuses on buffing speed and early game mana. Given that 1.5 times the healing that Io undergoes also applies to Io's tethered partner, regeneration items that effect both Io and other targets can have more than double their effectiveness. For example, using Mekansm will heal partners for up to 625 as opposed to 250. This also applies to the less specialized items Urn of Shadows and Arcane Boots. The 2% health regeneration of Heart of Tarrasque makes Io a very effective healer if you get it.

Tips

• Tether can be used on allied heroes to get to their side with great speed, as it latches from a considerable distance.
• Approaching a confrontation from behind will allow for easier use of Tether's stun. Positional items are also useful for this.
• Spirits requires much practice and focus to control, and due to its high mana cost it is not advisable to use it frivolously.
• Building Heart of Tarrasque or other HP regen items will allow for much more liberal use of your Overcharge. Also, the regen you get from these items will heal you tether partner, allowing you to heal allies by using Overcharge.
• Remember that Tether can be used on friendly creeps, and in a dangerous situation Io may be able to avoid death by Tethering to a lane creep, owing to Tether's large latch distance.
• Should an emergency arise, Io may Tether to a wounded ally and then Relocate to the fountain to heal both Io and his ally.
  • You can also save the life of a crucial allied hero with this method, but it will often result in your own inevitable death when Relocate forces you to return to your original location. Be sure to un-Tether your ally before you return.
  • The inverse of this can also work; Relocate from your fountain to the crucial ally and Tether them to bring them back. This is not always viable however, as it entails the 12 second discrepancy between Relocations.
• If Io's team has an end-game carry such as Phantom Assassin or Faceless Void, his top priority becomes ensuring the survival of this hero at any cost, including his own life. Io's skillset makes him very good at doing this, and if he succeeds in preserving the life of his carry then they will eventually become hugely powerful, and most likely win the game for their team.
• A good way to make Io cause a lot of damage with his nuke quickly is to summon the spirits, make them get closer, and when the cooldown has ended, get close to the enemy and activate the spell again. This way, all the spirits around you will explode damaging the enemy and five new ones will appear, potentially exploding on him too. Best used if Io is laning with someone with a good slow or stun, and when used to maximum potential (exploding all 10 spirits on maximum level of skill) will cause 1000 magical damage.
• When ganking or escaping, always remember that Tether duration is the same as its cooldown, so it can be maintained on constantly as long as you have enough mana.
• Though using Tether to offer bonus healing from items such as Tranquil Boots or an Urn of Shadows charge is a good idea, your Tethered ally will not gain anything if you are fully healed. Using Overcharge to lower your health and mana before using any healing items will assure you are able to pass along the boosted regeneration.

Trivia

• Io's hero model is made of particles without any visible mesh.
• Io does not have a voice, unlike any other hero in the current game, and only makes ambient noises.
• Though genderless, Io is usually referred to with male pronouns; it might be because of his Warcraft III hero model, which had a masculine face visible (and because of the ambiguity of the English pronoun "it"). The name Io, incidentally, is feminine.
• 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 occuring from sharply pointed structures.
• Wisp is also the name of an Elemental from the Legend of Mana series, which has a similar appearance and is usually involved in healing.
• Io is the name of a figure in Greek mythology, also the name of one of four Galilean moons of Jupiter.
• At some point, Io, Death Prophet, and Silencer had their appearance and ability colors changed. Io's overall palette was changed to teal, but was then reverted back to the blue color he originally had.

Update history

June 14, 2013 Patch

• Relocate:
  • Fixed the initial ability not being interrupted if Io was only disabled in the cast time but not when the teleportation happened.
  • Fixed the initial ability not getting interrupted by Root debuffs ( Ensnare, Overgrowth, etc).
  • Fixed ability not revealing fog of war for enemies.
  • Fixed ability not showing the initial visual effect on the ground for enemies (only showed ping).
• Fixed being able to return Tether Relocate with a different set of targeting rules than the initial direction (no longer allowed to return relocate a creep).
• Fixed Overcharge missing a 2 second toggle cooldown.

March 28, 2013 Patch

• Wisp name change to Io.
• [Undocumented] Io changed back to blue from teal.

March 21, 2013 Patch

• Fixed attack acquisition range on Disruptor, Keeper of the Light, Wisp, Visage and Medusa.

March 14, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Tether sometimes ending prematurely if Relocate was cast before Tether.
• Fixed Relocated units sometimes walking away to do a previous behavior.

December 06, 2012 Patch

• Updated the textures for Death Prophet, Silencer, Drow Ranger, and Wisp.
• Updated the ability icons for Death Prophet, Silencer, and Wisp to match texture changes.

November 08, 2012 Patch

• Fixed his Spirits dying if he gets cycloned or purged.
• Fixed Tether targeting magic immune allies.

September 21, 2012 Patch

• Fixed being able to Teleport a Tethered creep to the enemy base.

August 02, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Chakra Magic mana regen not transfering over Tether.

July 19, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Spirits detonating on non-hero units like Spirit Bear.

July 12, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Spirits exploding on illusions.
• Fixed Relocate to not teleport Wisp while dead.

July 05, 2012 Patch

• Enabled Rubick, Wisp, and Luna in Captain's Mode.
• Fixed Magic Stick interaction with Tether.
• Overcharge and the two spirit control sub abilities no longer proc magic stick.
• Spirits no longer don't retain their vision after they explode.
• Fixed Relocate's return not interrupting other channeling spells (like TP Scroll).
• Fixed heroes continuing old movement orders after returning with Relocate.
• Fixed Soul Ring not working with Tether.
• Fixes for guardian spirits rendering with pops and such when entering/leaving FoW.
• Fixed Wisp voice lipsync getting stuck on with random noise.
• Fixed ranged display stomping on ambient effects, including Wisp.
• Fixed Tether being left behind when enemy teleported into FoW.
• Changed Guardian Wisp Explosion Effects.
• Added more obvious Wisp Tether Boundary Effect.
• Tether now shows the amount that it heals it's target.
• Wisp spirits no longer show up on the minimap.
• Wisp and his tethered unit move their camera when they Relocate and Relocate back.
• The Relocate sound stops correctly now.

June 28, 2012 Patch

• Added Luna, Wisp.

Balance changelog

6.78

• Spirits no longer provide vision, except temporarily when they collide with an enemy hero.
• Overcharge hp/mp cost increased from 3.5% to 4.5%.

6.75

• Overcharge HP/MP cost over time increased from 2.5% to 3.5%.
• Tether regeneration transfer now heals the Tethered unit at 1.5x the rate of Wisp.

6.72

• Base damage increased from 33-42 to 43-52.
• Attack range increased from 525 to 575.
• Tether
  • Movement speed bonus reduced from 15/20/25/30% to 20%.
  • Stun duration rebalanced from 1/1.25/1.5/1.75 to 0.75/1.25/1.75/2.25.
• Spirits
  • Oscillation subabilities no longer interrupt Wisp's movement.
  • Now circle slightly faster when there are fewer alive.
  • No longer slow.
  • Life duration increased by 3 seconds.
  • Now spawn over 4 second interval instead of 6.
• OverchargeReworked:

Old Overcharge:

Grants bonus attack speed, drains 2.5% of his current HP and MP per second. If Io is tethered to an ally the bonus attack speed is also granted to that ally.

This is a toggle ability.

Attack Speed: 60/80/100/120

New Overcharge:

Grants bonus attack speed and damage reduction, drains 2.5% of his current HP and MP per second. If Io is tethered to an ally attack speed and damage reduction is also granted to that ally.

This is a toggle ability.

Attack Speed: 40/50/60/70

Damage Reduction: 5/10/15/20% [Reduces damage taken]

6.71

• Tether movement speed bonus reduced from 20/25/30/35 to 15/20/25/30.
• Spirits cooldown rescaled from 14 to 20/18/16/14.

6.69

• Tether Stun duration reduced from 1.25/1.5/1.75/2.0 to 1/1.25/1.5/1.75.
• Relocate cooldown increased from 80/60/40 to 90/75/60.

6.68b

• Wisp can no longer teleport to the enemy fountain.

6.68

• Created.

Gallery

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  Splash artwork

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  Io Ingame

See also

• Io responses