Time Walk

Quickly moves to a target location and slows the movement and attack of all units along its path for 3 seconds.


Notes
◘ Faceless Void is invulnerable while moving using Time Walk.
◘ Faceless Void will lose his queued commands when he uses this skill.

Explanation
While using Time Walk you're invulnerable, so it means you can't take damage nor be targeted. Also, you'll lose your queued commands while using it. It has a very short casting time, in fact Faceless Void isn't able to complete his animation by raising his hands. It's an utility spell: it's used to dodge spells, escape, chase, slowdown and initiate. While escaping, keep in mind that you can use it even if you're under the effect of Ensnare or similars and to target, if possible, a place where enemy heroes can't walk through. Unfortunately it has a high mana cost (120), so don't spam it until you solved your mana problems.

Its casting range increases by 200 per level.

Backtrack

Whenever damage is received, Faceless Void moves a moment back in time to try to dodge that damage. Can backtrack both physical and magical attacks.


Notes
◘ Stacks with evasion.

Explanation
Whenever you receive damage (above 6), there's a chance that Backtrack will trigger, healing you back. This skill can't be silenced but it won't evade stuns even if the damage is backtracked. It stacks with evasion and it's really effective against heroes with high AS. Also, it increases your EHP by 25%: the more HP you have, the more EHP you gain. Nevertheless, if the HP are lower than the damage inflicted, it's impossible to dodge it.

Below you can enjoy, from 3:39 to 4:08, one of many luck's examples. This Faceless Void has been awarded as the first winner of WoDotA Top10 Weekly.
◘ DotA - WoDotA Top10 Weekly Vol.1

Time Lock

Gives a chance that an attack will do bonus damage and lock a unit in time.


Notes
◘ Damage type: magical
◘ Stun works on magic immune units.
◘ Does not stack with Cranium Basher.

Explanation
Time Lock just means permabash. It's better to increase your AS, as IAS is better compared to damage, allowing you to bash faster. Of course, it doesn't stack with Cranium Basher. The damage type is magical, so it can be blocked, for example, with a Black King Bar. But no problem, the stun works the same. Also, the effect lasts twice the time on creeps and half on Roshan.

Chronosphere

Faceless Void creates a rip in spacetime causing all units in that area to become trapped for its duration. Faceless Void has a mysterious connection with spacetime that causes him to be unaffected by the sphere.


Notes
◘ Stops both units and buildings, friend or foe.
◘ Couriers are unnaffected.
◘ Does not affect units owned by the Faceless Void (Illusions, Summons).
◘ Reveals invisible enemy units in its area.
◘ Can be improved by Aghanim's Scepter (* shows the improved values).

Explanation
Chronosphere is a game-breaking ultimate. It can turn the tides of a battle. By casting it, you're able to block units you don't own, even invisible ones (revealing them) and with magic immunity, as well as buildings. It has a 0.5 casting time and there's a short pause before it will work. Many spells can't be blocked, such as Exorcism or Omnislash. Of course it can be improved with Aghanim's Scepter, but I don't consider it a really good item.

Its casting range is 600, while the AoE is 400, but don't be misled by the strange shape of the circle: you can pause everything highlighted in green.

This is my favourite. Ancient Tangoes of Essifation and Healing Salve provide plenty of heals, while Ironwood Branches some statistics. Also, Stout Shield will help Faceless Void to survive in the early game. It can be switched with a Quelling Blade if you think you're not able to last-hit enough.


This is an alternative: the two Slippers of Agility can replace the Quelling Blade. Moreover, they can be upgraded to a Poor Man's Shield.


This one provides both last-hitting and defensive power. But it lacks of statistics and sufficient healing.


For competitive gaming only. Poor Man's Shield protects you against early harassment and improves your last-hitting. Also, you won't require healing items as you should go with a babysitter with extra heals or a healing spell.

During the writing of this guide, to have a clearer idea of how competitive gamers play Faceless Void, I decided to analyze 26 of the most recent uploaded games @dota.replays.net. Probably, everybody already knows that the item build I proposed before isn't a dogma: Defense of the Ancient is a so beautiful game because you can arbitraly choose the items that most fit to you (of course, within certain limits).

Even if too few samples were studied, I can state that just 35% of players buy a Mask of Madness, and 33% of the latter buy it after at least a luxury item mentioned before.


Here's a new item build I suggest to try out. It totally skips Mask of Madness (with some variant, it's chosen by 42%, and that's very interesting). Hand of Midas is the very first item to buy, and thanks to a courier you won't spend time running around the map. It grants you an addition of 30 AS, which is really good. Also, you'll benefit this item's usage after at least 17 minutes, in which you should have spammed Transmute. Poor Man's Shield (or Vanguard) is necessary becaure Faceless Void is a very fragile hero, while Power Treads are needed because he's a squid. Therefore, Battle Fury is bought quite early as you should have enough AS for the moment. At this stage of the game, since it's the best DPS item for Faceless Void, it's quite devastating, especially inside the Chronosphere. The next obvious item to buy would be The Butterfly: extra IAS is always welcome.


Another item build worthy to be tested. Armlet of Mordiggian could seem a risky item, but it's a valid alternative to Vanguard. It grants more HP, as well as the the desperately needed extra AS, and has a great synergy with Manta Style. Together they will provide you even more AS than The Butterfly, and if Armlet of Mordiggian is activated before Manta Style, also the clones will benefit from the HP increase.

Many people claim that Poor Man's Shield isn't just the cheaper version of Varguard, but their bonuses are also almost equal due to the pseudo-random distribution. So, to demonstrate the opposite, I decided to do the comparison availing the aid of three graphs, that respectively show the trend of EHP, DPS and t (time) - in the abscissa - over the levels (ordinate), supposing the only items Faceless Void wears are Power Treads (agility), Magic Wand and Poor Man's Shield or Vanguard. I don't consider various factors, such as other items, to make things easier.



EHP means effective hitpoints, it's the amount of hitpoints an unit has after having considered that armor points, damage block and evasion chance reduce (or increase, if the armor value is negative) the damage received. In the graph, the initial difference of EHP tends to increase level by level, so at level 11 ΔEHP~731.





EDPS means effective damage per second, it's the damage an unit can inflict to the target in the period of time corresponding to 1 second after having considered that armor points reduce (or increase, if the value is negative) the damage received. Premise: here I'm considering the average attack of the enemy as equal to 100 and the IAS corresponding to 28. It can be deducted that the EDPS received are almost costant, having ΔDPS~4.





t, incredible but true, just means time, more exactly the time (measured in seconds) taken by a unit to kill the target. This last graph is meant to exalt even more the results obtained in the previous two, since it's based on the equation t = EHP / DPS. Note that at level 11 Δt~24s, which is a lot of time.

Poor Man's Shield & Point Booster vs. Vanguard

Point Booster has been proposed, along with Poor Man's Shield, as a valid alternative as well as a better choice than Vanguard. With a similar procedure, now I'm comparing Vanguard to Poor Man's Shield and Point Booster. Feel free to skip this part if you can't bear it anymore.



Not much to say. The two curves seems to overlap, but neither the addition of 150 further HP makes the values almost equal (at level 11, ΔEHP~195).



The EDPS graph doesn't vary since Point Booster doesn't affect armor and HP regeneration values.



Bang. The outbreak you didn't expect for. The difference is still substantial when it comes to survavibility. At level 11, Δt~12s and it tends to increase over levels.

Coming soon.

Suppose the only items that give you extra intelligence and mana regeneration are Magic Wand (+3 intelligence) and Buttle Fury (150% mana regeneration), as well as Refresher Orb (+6 intelligence and 200% mana regeneration). It's very probable you'll initiate an attack by casting Time Walk first, or maybe escape with it later. Even if your aim is to cast Reset Cooldowns, you could do that only from level 20 on.

At level 20, Faceless Void has the following statistics:
◘ Intelligence: 43 + 19
◘ Mana points: 806
◘ Mana regeneration: 0.01 + (43 + 19) * 0.04 * ( 1 + 1.5 + 2) = 11.17 mana/second

To use Refresher Orb effectively, you should be able to cast your ordinary combo, plus another Chronosphere. So, this is the mana you would spend:

As your mana pool is of 806, your mana left after having used Time Walk + Chronosphere + Refresher Orb is 111. Level 3 Chronosphere lasts 5 seconds and this means you'll gain other 55 points (166 total), so you'll get 200 total mana points 3 seconds after your ultimate is finished. All these conditions aren't verified if you have a lower level.

Also, buying Aghanim's Scepter is still better: in 5 minutes you can cast 5 ultimates (that last 6 seconds), while with Refresher Orb 6 in the same amount of time. But the fact is, Aghanim's Scepter can work before you reach level 20.

Anyway, I want to point out that:
◘ Faceless Void, at high levels, doesn't need a double Chronosphere becuase he can kill the target before.
◘ You can buy better items than Aghanim's Scepter or Refresher Orb.

Take the lower lane if you're playing as a Sentinel, or the upper one if you're part of the Scourge. There are two main things to know, namely to control creeps, which is essential for the lane management and to last-hit and deny. Creep control is about to lure creeps under your tower using their scripted AI. This will screw the enemies' farming, since they won't be able to last-hit effectively.

Depending on the heroes you face and their playstyle, you have to play in a passive or a farming way. The passive way is used to stay in the so-called "experience range", protected from any kind of attack. You're supposed to wait until the creepwawe reaches its safety zone (the tower), where you'll be able to farm a bit. When using this style, your movements must coincide with the enemies', to maintain the distance. Time Walk can save you one time, but it won't give you any regeneration to stay in lane longer. Don't be greedy or you could lose several HP. If the enemy group doesn't play agressively, then you can play in the farming way. Concentrate on last-hits and deny. As long as no creep can be last-hitted, attack your own creeps under half HP to draw the lane towards your tower.

Help your ally if possible. In case, you can cast Time Walk to an enemy slowing his MS, so that your ally can try to escape. But be careful, because you'll be the next target. Also, as with Time Walk is possible to avoid some annoying spell like Lich's or Yurnero's ultimate skills, you should try not to get out of mana.

At this time of the game, there are three valuable options: farming neutral creeps, pushing and ganking.

Farming neutral creeps
The true power of Mask of Madness is farming. So, if the creepwave is already at the enemies' tower, then start to kill some neutral creep. Even if you're ganked in the while, you'll be able to escape and regenerate HP thanks to Time Walk and lifesteal. If you have time to farm in a safe way, do it: if you don't kill enough creeps, you won't farm anything before you're ganked. Farm quickly, so that you can move on to the next creep camp. Do it if lanes are occupied and you can't push.

Pushing
Simply start Mask of Madness' Berserk when the first creep gets below half HP: this will push your lane towards the enemy. As always, when you get close to the enemy, go back and farm neutral creeps. During this time, the enemies will most likely push back, and when the creepwave gets big enough, return, kill them all and repeat the aforementioned process.

Ganking
If an enemy is farming on your lane, call for a gank or move to another one. You should be the one who has to kill, above all because of the expensive items you need to buy.

With a correct Chronosphere's availment and good team members, you can defeat the enemy at their own towers. If the attack is finished, your team is retreating and you have at least half HP, then you should kill some ancient creep to regain it. It's unlikely for the enemy to go there, as they need to push back the creepwaves.

Also, remember that with The Butterfly you can solo Roshan. If you unfortunately meet the enemy team, don't be too hasty: before escaping, check Roshan's HP and, if it's low, cast Chronosphere, kill it, bring the Aegis of Immortal and then cast Time Walk.

If you're close to melee creeps and you issue an attack command to an enemy hero, they will start to attack you. Because of that, your own creeps will attack the others. If creeps are close to you and the tower isn't attacking the enemy hero, they will follow you even if the tower is hitting them (creeps' AI). Instead, the towers' priority is: the one who attacks the allied hero, the one who attacks the tower, the one who is closer (towers' AI). This is all you need to accomplish the following movements:

◘ If enemy creeps are coming from the tower and yours are still far, then stand next to the tower with the Hold Position key and when creeps get closer start to run backwards until you reach your own wave. If the enemy attacks the tower, it will fight back, since no one else is hitting it, and you're already far away.

◘ If the fight is close to your tower's attack range, then you could lure creeps by attacking the hero (you don't need to hit him) and running instantly backwards. This will draw every creep towards your tower thanks to the simple AI. If you're close enough to them you'll be attacked, even if you targeted a hero on the other side of the map.


This trick is pretty useful. Sometimes, you can start it from halfway between the two towers, and end up farming at your own tower. You may receive some hit by luring creeps, but you'll regenerate pretty fast and Backtrack might evade them.

It could happen a chased Faceless Void is out of mana. So, if the enemy is at your back, try to move over a ramp, turn around at its top and, when also the enemy reaches the top, then run in the opposite direction. This works only if the enemy is really close to you.

If you reach the targeted point, you'll gain extra visual: it's a great advantage over Undying.

Since Undying can just see the ground at his right, you're able to turn around, disorienting him.

In case an Invoker is chasing you, run near your creeps, as the possible damage inflicted by Sunstrike will be splitted equally to every unit.

Running away with Mask of Madness sounds stupid, but it's pretty effective to save yourself. First of all, cast Time Walk and then maintain the distance between you and the enemy with Berserk. Since it gives you insane MS and lasts as long as the Time Walk's cooldown, you have just to run for 12 seconds and cast Time Walk again.

Escaping

Time Walk, as an escaping skill, can be used in two ways. The most simple, as well as the worst, is to simply Time Walk away from the enemy because of the massive range it provides (but, as explained in the skill build, it's better to level it up later). Another way to escape with Time Walk is using it to run over a cliff or through some tree, so that the enemy has to run around to get you.

Faceless Void successfully escapes from Nevermore time walking to an ancient creep camp.

You can even travel over two cliffs.

Chasing

When chasing an enemy, use Time Walk to block his path. When he's running away, use any possible terrain obstacle to slowdown him. The slow effect can help you to deploy Chronosphere properly. Always think forward, try to foresee the enemy's next move. Time Walk makes you invulnerable, but you can still use items like Mask of Madness.

Spell dodging

To spell dodge you need three things: no lag, good timing and a lot of luck. Even though it's hard to do is still more reliable than Backtrack. Just remember that if you try to use Time Walk over the casting range Faceless Void will start to walk instead of casting it. Some spell may hit even if you manage to escape, if the effect has a longer delay than the time you're invulnerable. On the other hand, some spell can be avoided without having good timing since they need to search for targets over time. For example, Omnislash or Chain Frost. Some spell, like Meat Hook and Nether Strike, works on invulnerable heroes, too.

Fissure dodged.

Magic Missile dodged.

The difference between Time Walk and Blink

Although Time Walk is similar to Blink, the differences between the two spells are very important. Blink-based spells have lower cooldown, mana cost and no slow effect. In addition, if a hero blinks inside the fog of war, the enemy won't be able to trace him. On the other hand, Time Walk shows the direction in which Faceless Void travels, so fast heroes like Night Stalker can still catch him. To avoid this, there's a simple, but effective trick: if you can travel to the other side of the forest, don't do it, but instead Time Walk in the forest itself. Since both the forest and the other side are inside the fog of war for the enemy, he'll think that you escaped to the other side, and will continue to pursue you there. When the coast is clear, you can get out of the forest, or use a Scroll of Town Portal before that. There are hidden unattainable spots in forests and on hills, that can be only reached by Time Walk or Blink.

Your goal is to freeze with Chronosphere as many enemies as possible. If you can freeze also an opponent tower, then you should do it. Anyway, before casting it, you have to remember a few things. First: don't use Chronsophere right at the beginning (unless against a stunner or disabler), but try to wait until the enemy tries to run away and trap him. Second: the killing priority must be disablers and stunners, damage dealers, tanks and heroes with Blink. Third: hit its hotkey to see the AoE, and then right-click to cancel it. To adjust Chronosphere don't bother with the circle you see: it has a strange shape, so just care to the units highlighted in green, that can be paused. The more time it takes to place Chronosphere, the less effective it will be. Don't place it if heroes are too far or on the edge of the AoE: allied melee heroes can attack, but it's a risky solution. This ultimate is too good to make even a waste. Try to cast Chronosphere so that your team will benefit the most. Ranged heroes can attack the paused ones. Always make sure that you catch all the heroes you wanted. If you missed one, then attack him, if your teammates can deal with those caught in the Chronosphere. It has a great synergy with Omnislash, Macropyre, Mass Serpent Ward, Exorcism, Poison Nova, Death Ward and Epicenter.

1) You're above the enemy. He can't see you. You won't catch him if you go around 2) To avoid Blink, stun or similar stuff you should initiate with Chronosphere 3) Chronosphere is casted 4) Cast Time Walk and give him everything he deserves.

1) The enemy may choose between two routes 2) Chase him until he makes up his mind, and then cast Time Walk to capture him 3) Place Chronosphere in front of him as far as possible, so incoming forces won't get close to you.

1) The enemy attacks the tower. He has no sight of you 2) Chronosphere should be placed so that the tower won't be affected, namely when it isn't highlighted 3) Perfect.

1) The enemy is farming at his tower. You should attack from here 2) If you start the ambush from here you won't be noticed until you get in range 3) Even if he runs back he will be frozen, and the tower won't help at all 4) Once the job is finished, Time Walk is casted to get away. The tower, the hero and even the upcoming creeps are frozen.

1) This is the basic "attack from the bushes" combo. Time Walk next to the hero, and then cast Chronosphere in his face 2) After that, hit him until he goes down.

Lifesteal comes pretty much after all the reductions you can think of, making it quite weak.

Here's a list of some special interaction directly linked with Faceless Void's skills and items:
◘ Critical Strike. Lifesteal is calculated after Critical Strike, which means that it will increase the amount of life you steal.
◘ Bash. Melee bash will work normally.
◘ Cleave. Lifesteal will only work on the main target of your attack, despite the animation showing something different.

Total hero's evasion percentage isn't equal to the sum of every skill and item providing it. The cause of diminishing effect is the result of a natural phenomenon resulting from a probability case where chances are lost due to multiple instances proccing at the same time.

So, this means that Faceless Void's total evasion with level 4 Backtrack (25% evasion) and The Butterfly (35% evasion) is the following:

Cleave causes a Faceless Void's attacks to deal a portion of their damage in an AoE. The damage dealt by Cleave is reduced by armor type, but not by armor value, and derived from the actual damage of the attacking unit (as opposed to the damage that the primary target took from the attack). Cleave does not affect the primary target of the attack.

The only buff placer that affects Cleave is Critical Strike. If you proc a Critical Strike when you cleave, the damage multiplier will affect all units hit by the Cleave.

Multiple sources of Cleave work completely independently from each other. Each Cleave source causes another instance of damage for the affected units.

Pseudo-random distribution (PRD) refers to the mechanics of how certain probability-based items work. For each instance which could trigger the effect but doesn't, PRD augments the probability of the effect happening for the next instance. The initial probability is quite low. The important gameplay and balance effect of PRD is that effects based on it rarely occur many times in a row, or go a long time without happening.

In the case of Buriza-do Kyanon, a critical strike will occur very nearly every 4 attacks, will rarely occur twice in a row, and will always happen within 11 attacks.

Even if anything listed as having a 100% chance will always work (relevant for Poor Man's Shield), there is one important exception to note. Due to the Warcraft III engine, PRD for items that use it and are listed as having a greater than 25% chance to proc, actually have a lower probability.

Faceless Void is very weak in the early game, so he'll need someone to look after him. Also, he needs a pushing tactic to farm without problems, so spells that can push lanes or destroy towers are welcome as well.


Heroes that need a long duration AoE disable to work properly, but in return they can deal lots of damage. Since Chronosphere can stop channeling spells, some hero won't work properly with Faceless Void. Enigma for example. Although Witch Doctor's ultimate is also channeling, he can use it outside the Chronosphere.


Heroes with a long stun or disable who allow Faceless Void to use his Mask of Madness without any danger outside the Chronosphere.


Long ranged heroes who can shoot or cast spells to the enemies inside the Chronosphere.


Stone Giant can throw enemies into the Chronosphere to immobilize them for a while.


Dark Seer and Magnataur. The first places heroes inside the Chronosphere and provides Faceless Void extra DPS thanks to Vacuum and Ion Shell, while the second grants with Empower another cleave, which is independent from the Battle Fury's one (according to the mechanics forum).


Force Staff can help you in many ways. For example, it helps you in positioning without wasting mana and pushing enemies inside the Chronosphere.

Disablers. If you get too many of these, you won't be able to cast Time Walk to get to safety and, above all, Chronosphere. Get a Black King Bar if this becomes too troublesome. Nevertheless, Backtrack works fine: Doom, Hex, Silence and Smoke Screen can't disable it. If you concentrate on HP you should survive, no matter how many stuns you receive. Disable can make you useless. A wounded Faceless Void can be easily killed outside the Chronosphere with the help of these.


Melee damage counters. This is a real pain, especially if Berserk is on. Avatar blocks Damage Return according to the mechanics forum. So buy it if they go for a Blade Mail. Buying Heart of Tarrasque also helps with Damage Return and other stuffs.


Heroes whose passive skills work inside the Chronosphere, which makes it much harder to kill them.


Mana burners. Faceless Void has a small mana pool, and having unavaible Time Walk and Chronosphere could be problematic.


Force Staff makes your Chronosphere useless, pushing away paused units.


Beastmaster is a really annoying hero. His summons scout the forests, in which you'll be half the game. Moreover, Primal Roar drops heroes out of the Chronosphere and stuns you even if you activated Avatar.

Download replay - DotA 6.72f - v1.26.0.6401
Faceless Void is played by RamboeJoe. He plays in the classic way, with a fast Hand of Midas followed by Vanguard and Mask of Madness. He ends up with a 7-6 killing score.

Download replay - DotA 6.72c - v1.26.0.6401
Faceless Void is played by ThePlaaaymaatE. The game doesn't last too long, so he opts for an aggressive playstyle, skipping any Stout Shield-derived item. I desagree with the Phase Boots' choice. Second of two examples in which Mask of Madness is bought. He ends up with a 9-2 killing score.

Download replay - DotA 6.72f - v1.26.0.6401
Faceless Void is played by PANZERLEAF. He uses the second item build I suggested and ends up with a nice 15-1 killing score.

Download replay - DotA 6.72f - v1.26.0.6401
Faceless Void is played by LuCksHoT. As before, he rushes Battle Fury to end up with a 11-1 killing score.