Omniknight makes it difficult to kill enemies quickly: he heals, protects against effects, and temporarily shields his team from physical damage. If you waste all your attacks on his protection without a plan, your opponents will get an easy counter-engage. Let’s look at Omniknight counters, items against his healing, and ways to choose a target while he is ready to save his allies.

Hero Traits

Purification restores health to a chosen ally and deals pure damage to nearby enemies. Repel provides protection from negative effects and increases magic resistance. Hammer of Purity helps Omniknight deal damage himself, while Guardian Angel protects nearby allies from physical damage.

Omniknight is especially useful when enemies attack a single predictable target. His weaknesses are limited mobility, mana dependency, and the need to be near his team at the right time. Magic and pure damage let you keep attacking during Guardian Angel, but you still need to account for Repel. Guardian Angel itself works as an aura: this protection cannot be removed with Nullifier or a basic dispel.

Best Heroes Against Omniknight

Omniknight is usually picked in position 5—as a hard support—or position 3—as an offlaner. Against a support, it’s important to reach him and disrupt his saves; against a core Omniknight, survive his approach and prevent him from restoring health during a long fight.

Carry

  • Muerta deals magic damage with her attacks during Pierce the Veil. Guardian Angel does not protect against these shots, although the additional magic resistance from Repel reduces their effectiveness.
  • Naga Siren can wait out Guardian Angel with Song of the Siren. While the enemies are asleep, her team has time to retreat or prepare a follow-up attack after the protection ends.

Mid

  • Outworld Destroyer deals pure damage with Arcane Orb, bypassing physical damage protection. Astral Imprisonment lets him temporarily remove Omniknight from the fight or save an ally.
  • Invoker combines magic damage, control, and mana burn through EMP. His abilities let him hold Omniknight’s team in place or wait out the protection without continuing a futile exchange of attacks.

Offlaner

  • Doom prevents Omniknight from casting spells and blocks the chosen target’s healing with Doom. Depending on the fight, you can disable the savior himself or the hero he was about to heal.
  • Brewmaster gets several controllable fighters with Primal Split. Cyclone lets him remove Omniknight or an ally from the fight for a long time and waste the duration of defensive abilities.

Support

  • Shadow Demon slows Omniknight with Demonic Purge and makes it harder for him to stay near the ally who needs him. Disruption is useful against a core Omniknight’s burst damage and lets you wait out part of his attack.
  • Rubick gets useful Spell Steal options: healing, Repel, or Guardian Angel. Telekinesis helps interrupt Omniknight’s approach before he is protected from control.

Hard Support

  • Ancient Apparition prevents healing with Ice Blast. Omniknight won’t be able to simply restore the health of an ally affected by it with Purification.
  • Silencer makes it harder to use a save in time with Global Silence. The ultimate is especially useful when the team has already started an attack and Omniknight is just about to respond.

What to Build Against Omniknight

  • Spirit Vessel reduces healing on the chosen target. Use it while taking into account the dispels and defensive abilities available to the enemy.
  • Shiva's Guard reduces the health regeneration of nearby enemies. Useful for a hero who can stay at the center of the fight and disrupt area healing.
  • Eye of Skadi lets a carry limit the target’s healing with basic attacks and prevents them from freely retreating to Omniknight.
  • Orchid Malevolence prevents Omniknight from using a save while silenced. Once he has a way to dispel the effect, you’ll need follow-up control.
  • Scythe of Vyse helps catch Omniknight before Repel and Guardian Angel, while also preventing him from using items.
  • Force Staff helps an ally get away from a core Omniknight and avoid taking more Hammer of Purity hits.
  • Aeon Disk gives a support a chance to survive sudden damage and help the team in time. Keep track of its cooldown and the enemy’s ways to remove the protection.

How to Play Against Omniknight at Different Stages

Laning

Don’t stand near the target of Purification, so that healing an ally doesn’t also give Omniknight free damage against you. Make him spend mana, but don’t lose health in unfavorable trades. If Omniknight moves away from his partner, you have an opportunity to attack one of them without the other immediately backing them up.

Mid Game

Find Omniknight himself before attacking. Controlling him is often more useful than using one more ability on a protected carry. After Guardian Angel, either keep fighting with a suitable damage type or retreat and wait for the effect to end. Split up the enemies: without the Aghanim's Scepter upgrade, the protective aura requires Omniknight to stay near his allies.

Late Game

Check Omniknight’s upgrades and items before every important fight. After he buys Aghanim's Scepter, you can no longer rely on him staying at a distance. Save healing prevention and reliable control for the crucial moment. If the protection is already active and you can’t finish the target, change your focus instead of sacrificing the whole team for a single kill.