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Position 5 Faceless Void is the latest addition to Dota 2’s long list of picks that defy convention. This recently came to light with Royal Never Give Up beating PSG.LGD in two consecutive matches of I-League lower bracket quarterfinals: both had RNG’s Ru “RedPanda” Zhihao playing position 5 Faceless Void.
Faceless Void is almost exclusively a position 1 hero in recent years of Dota 2. Although Faceless Void offlane used to be a thing years back, playing him as a support is simply unheard of.
Position 5 Faceless Void thrives on the potent slow from his second ability, Time Dilation. His ultimate, Chronosphere, is a game-changing ability, especially when co-ordinated with teammates.
Dota 2: The ins and outs of Position 5 Faceless Void
Faceless Void has decent starting stats, armor and movement speed. Since trading with the opponent position 4 and offlaner is a key component of playing position 5 in the laning stage in most Dota 2 matches, his decent base stats come in handy.
Skill build of Position 5 Faceless Void
As mentioned before, Faceless Void in position 5 thrives on Time Dilation. However, it is not the skill that needs to be started with. RedPanda, in both matches, started with Time Walk. It gives Faceless Void the leeway to trade with enemy heroes at level 1 as he can simply time walk off the damage.
Level 2 is when a position 5 Faceless Void should be taking point in Time Dilation, before maxing it by level 7. With a value point in Time Lock at level 3, and a standard point in Chronosphere at level 6, the name of the game is to bait enemies into casting spells, and then slowing them to a crawl with Time Dilation.
Coming to talents, +9 strength, +300 health, -2s Time Walk and +140 Choronosphere AoE are ideal for enabling Faceless Void in a support role in Dota 2.
Item Build of Position 5 Faceless Void
To bolster the trading potential of position 5 Faceless Void in the laning stage, his starting items should comprise some health regen and Orb of Venom. Next, the items of choice are Boots of Speed and Magic Stick, before eventually turning them into Power Treads, Magic Wand and Orb of Corrosion.
After this, the choices remain open. But the main focus should be on survivability so that the hero can get off the spells before being bursted. That would include Glimmer Cape, Force Staff, Eul’s Scepter of Divinity, Ghost Scepter and Aeon Disk. RedPanda went for an Aeon Disk to avoid being stunlocked and killed by the enemy Dragon Knight, Ursa, and Puck.
Can Faceless Void be played in the Position 5 role in pubs?
An important point to note from the two Dota 2 matches of RNG vs PSG.LGD is that RNG paired the position 5 Faceless Void with a ranged carry in both games. Faceless Void’s ultimate is a make-or-break depending on the cohesion with teammates, especially more so when Void is being played in a support role as he doesn’t have the damage to kill any enemy stuck in his ult. Dota 2 pubs simply don’t have nearly as much cohesion between teammates when compared to a professional team environment.
Then comes the question of tilting teammates with the Faceless Void hard support pick in the draft stage of Dota 2 itself. It can potentially be solved through communication, instilling trust in teammates that the player knows what he is doing.
In any case, Faceless Void position 5 is the latest talk of the town in the Dota 2 community, and as more and more people start trying it out in pubs, it won’t hopefully raise as many eyebrows as it does now.
