Faceless Void is in a pretty weird place right now in Dota 2, despite being one of the most popular heroes a few patches back. While his win/pick rate isn’t topping the charts in high MMR games, he’s still putting up solid numbers in the Archon to Divine brackets. It’s still one of the few hard carries in the game that can solo win the match with enough space.
The hero’s design alone is what makes him one of the strongest heroes in Dota 2. His ability to lock enemy heroes in a large radius while he goes to town with his massive right-click damage makes him a true monster in the late game. But of course, your item choices and skill build are huge factors in how much impact you can actually have with Faceless Void.
Related
Dark Seer can be a tough hero to learn for beginners in Dota 2. This guide will teach you his item and ability build to help you get started.
Dota 2 Faceless Void Hero Overview
Faceless Void is a melee Agility hero that usually takes on the role of the Position 1 Hard Carry in Dota 2. Even though the hero has poor starting stats, his above-average Strength and Agility growth let him scale well into the late game. In the laning stage, he’s not as big of a kill threat as a hero like the Juggernaut or Phantom Assassin. However, if the game drags on and Faceless Void gets enough farm, he can dominate the entire map on his own.
Standard Abilities & Ultimate
|
Ability Name |
How it Works |
|---|---|
|
Time Walk (Q) |
Faceless Void leaps in the targeted direction, backtracking any damage he took in the last 2 seconds |
|
Time Dilation (W) |
Faceless Void extends the active cooldown of his enemies’ abilities in an AOE around him and also deals damage over time based on the number of abilities that are on cooldown. |
|
Time Lock (Passive) |
Faceless Void gains a chance to lock an enemy unit in place, stunning them on hit. |
|
Chronosphere (R) |
Faceless Void creates a sphere in which all units, allies and enemies, get trapped in stasis. The trapped units can’t move, cast abilities, or use items for the duration of the ability. |
Players can also buy Aghanim’s Scepter and Aghanim’s Shard on Faceless Void to add new effects to his Time Walkability. Aghanim’s Shard additionally gives the hero a new ability called Reverse Time Walk.
- Aghanim’s Scepter: Applies the effect of Time Lock to all units in the landing destination of Time Walk in a small radius.
- Aghanim’s Shard: Faceless Void gains the new ability Reverse Time Walk. Available for 1.5 seconds after casting Time Walk, it allows Faceless Void to return to his original cast position.
Aghanim’s Shard also increases the cast range of Time Walk.
Since the Dota 2 Crownfall patch, Faceless Void also has two different facets that you can choose at the start of a match, along with an Innate ability.
- Innate Ability (Distortion Field): Enemy attack projectiles within a specific radius of Faceless Void are slowed.
- Facet 1 (Chronosphere): Gives Faceless Void the ability to use Chronosphere.
- Facet 2 (Time Zone): Replaces Chronosphere with the ultimate ability Time Zone. Faceless Void creates a large rectangular zone on the map that causes enemy attack and spell projectiles to slow down. Your allies, on the other hand, get a bonus to their attack, movement, and projectile speed.
Enemies caught inside the Time Zone are leashed instead of being stunned.
Faceless Void Build Guide in Dota 2
Unlike heroes like Windranger, who can be played in multiple positions and have a variety of builds, Faceless Void’s build is pretty straightforward. It’s a Hard Carry that goes to the Safe Lane with the primary goal of farming up Gold and working towards his core items to become effective in the late game.
That being said, in the right matchup, Faceless Void can certainly start to come online a lot faster. The hero shines against slippery heroes that rely on spell-casting and mobility, such as Puck. However, against heroes with a lot of Damage Over Time (DOT) abilities, the hero can struggle during the laning stage.
The following build guide will give you a clear picture of the items to build and the talents to pick when playing Faceless Void in your ranked Dota 2 games.
Facets, Talents, & Ability Order
Choosing the right Facet is extremely important when you’re playing Faceless Void. If you’re playing as the position 1 carry, always go with Chronosphere. However, if you’re playing as a Position 3, and you’ve got a ranged carry like Drow Ranger, Templar Assassin, or even Huskar on your team, the Time Zone facet can also be useful to buff them up.
Regardless of the Facet you go with, you’ll want to put one point into Time Walk when you start the game. The hero is pretty squishy, and with Time Walk, you’ll always have a get-out-of-jail-free card in your back pocket. Once you reach level two, you usually want to go with Time Lock. However, if the enemy team has spam-heavy heroes in the Offlane a point into Time Dilation can be good.
Upgrade Time Walk to max while putting one point in the other two abilities. Pick up your ultimate as soon as you hit level 6. Upgrade Time Lock next and start putting points into Time Dilation afterwards. As for your Talents, go with the following:
- +0.5s Time Walk Backtrack Duration
- +30 Time Lock Damage
- +80 Attack Speed during Chronosphere
- +20% Backtrack Chance
Item Progression
Faceless Void’s item progression isn’t too difficult to pin down. The hero goes for the same items pretty much every game, with a couple of situational items depending on the matchup and lane.
The following build guide will show you the items that are good for the hero:
For the start of the game, buy a set of tango along with a Magic Stick for your primary sustain. A Circlet and two Iron Branches give you enough stat to beef up your HP, and you can also upgrade them for more utility. Also, go for a Quelling Blade to help you make your last hit easier in the lane.
The first set of items for Faceless Void is extremely important. In most cases, you want to first complete your Wraith Band and Magic Wand. This gives you some nice stats, along with enough healing to sustain the lane harass. After that, go for Power Treads and follow that up with a Mask of Madness.
Unlike most melee-carry heroes, Faceless Void usually doesn’t build Battle Fury to speed up his farm. Maelstrom is since it also gives the hero some much-needed attack speed. After building your Mask of Madness, this is the first item that you should go for. It will speed up your farm significantly and also give you some damage to join team fights with your Chronosphere.
After this, you’ve got two options: Black King Bar or Mjolnir, and the one you choose mostly depends on your matchup. If your team is doing well without you, and you’re not getting pressured as much, Mjolnir is a great choice. However, in some games, the enemy team will continue to force objectives, and Black King Bar will allow you to join fights safely.
After picking up your core items, you’ll have a bit more flexibility regarding your item choice. If you’re lacking damage during Chronosphere, consider going for items like Daedalus, Monkey King Bar, or even Silver Edge to break enemy passives. Nullifier can be useful against saving items such as Glimmer Cape or Force Staff. Against high HP heroes, Eye of Skadi is a great choice. Aghanim’s Shard can also be excellent on Faceless Void if you’re the one starting the fights.
Refresher Orb can also work well, giving you double Chronosphere and double BKB during fights.
Faceless Void is one of the hardest-hitting carry heroes in Dota 2 in the late game. While he’s certainly not at his best at the moment, once you master the hero, you can dominate your ranked games, especially in the middle bracket.
- Released
-
July 9, 2013
- ESRB
-
r
- Multiplayer
-
Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Engine
-
Source 2
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty