The concept of ‘facets’ was introduced to Dota 2 in patch 7.36. Here, we take a look at the top 10 core heroes with the best facets in the game.
Dota 2 patch 7.36 made every Dota 2 player a student again, requiring them to memorize a plethora of new ‘innate abilities’ and ‘facets’. Now that the dust has settled, there are some clear winners that have risen to the top for both the new types of abilities.
Facets are the more interesting of the two, as you get to pick a path you want to travel on at the start of the game. It can literally make or break a hero, and at times, determine which hero is the best to go with or against a draft. Here, are 10 core heroes who have received the best facets from patch 7.36.
The heroes mentioned here are in alphabetical order. This list is based on a combination of early impressions, and opinions of the analysts at DreamLeague Season 23 and the discussions by Shannon “SUNSfan” Scotten and Troels “SyndereN” Nielsen on their podcast We Say Things. Irrespective of whether you agree certain facets are good or not, there can’t be any disagreement on the fact that the facets have some creative names!
Axe
Both of Axe’s facets are strong. ‘One Man Army’ can enable you to go on solo missions being less vulnerable, especially if the opposition has a majority of physical damage. But
‘Call Out’ really complements his typical playstyle, complimenting Blademail as well as Counter Helix. Counter Helix now triggers after every 4 attacks, and the increased attack speed for enemies means it will trigger continuously as long as you have the Aghamin’s Shard (Shard removes the 0.3 second cooldown on Counter Helix).
Chaos Knight
‘Phantasmagoria’ is great where the enemy doesn’t have a lot of AoE damage, and especially great against heroes like Lion and Pugna that can get rid of illusions easily. Manta Style will be a core item with this talent, and we may even see the Chaos Knight-Shadow Demon pairing gain popularity.
‘Irrationality’ is somewhat like Pangolier’s old Lucky Shot. It’s a great tool to have especially when you need a way to ‘break’ a hero, like while playing against a Bristleback.
Dark Seer
‘Quick Wit’ is amazing for Dark Seer as his innate ability ‘Mental Fortitude’ ensures he does not have lower intelligence than either his agility or strength and his intelligence keeps up to match with them. This means he can just build a lot of strength, become tanky, and Quick Wit will provide him the attack speed to karate chop the hell out of enemies. Remember, he is a universal hero, so both those attributes also give him damage.
‘Heart of Battle’ is the facet Dark Seer will go for while playing the typical aura building team fight hero, and that has the potential to make him the new Bloodseeker. After mid game hits, Dark Seer will be moving at maximum speed in all team fights. It’s like a perma Surge.
Gyrocopter
‘Secondary Strikes’ is a great tool to have for team fights. Even while chasing a hero, if you manage to hit two of the three Call Down missiles, the additional mile takes the overall damage at level 3 of the skill to over 1150 magic damage.
But ‘Afterburner’ is bound to be the more popular facet, as it helps you chase as well as get away. And the additional movement speed is for every successful hit on any enemy, not just the hero, which makes it even more potent during the laning stage.
Juggernaut
‘Bladestorm’ gives Juggernaut the ability to deal 35% increased damage with Blade Furry 35% of the time, which is a lot of magic damage, especially during the laning stage. But ‘Bladeform’ is the facet right clickers will be more interested in, which can give him 30% additional base agility. Of course, the catch is you can’t damage before dealing with it. But getting Omnislash off before taking any damage will increase the Omnislash damage significantly.
Legion Commander
The 100% damage barrier provided by ‘Stonehall Plate’ is one of the most broken things to come out of Dota 2 patch 7.36. Considering this skill can also be cast during Duel, the chances of Legion Commander losing a Duel are quite low.
‘Spoils of War’ is also a great facet, especially if your team is running two or three physical damage right click heroes.
Leshrac
‘Misanthropy’ is one of the most underwhelming facets in the game. A Leshrac that can’t damage buildings loses a lot of his allure. But ‘Chronoptic Nourishment’ makes up for it completely, as it gives Leshrac a way of having infinite mana. The Disco Pony is amongst the top 5 most mana intensive heroes in the game, and having a continuous supply of mana is going to make the hero pretty popular.
Mars
‘Victory Feast’ makes the case for a right clicking Mars with Desolator, possibly even from the mid lane. But one of the most unique facets that makes Mars crack the top 10 for the best core facets is ‘Blood Sport’. Blood Sport basically prevents any save on a hero trapped inside the Arena of Blood by a hero from the outside. You can’t see the portrait of an ally inside the Arena, which means you can’t even portrait click spells like False Promise or Shallow Grave. A hero will have to blink inside the Arena to do it, which is not something you want to do.
Night Stalker
Night Stalker has two intriguing facets. ‘Blinding Void’ makes it easier to go on solo heroes wandering away from their team. But ‘Night Reign' is the more interesting one, which makes the game start at night instead of day. This is a major change for NS, who struggles in lane. Any points in ‘Hunter in the Night’ previously didn’t benefit him at all early in the first five minutes of the game. Now he can be more of a force to reckon with in the lane, and will Dark Ascension ready to go.
Silencer
‘Irrepressible’ brings back core Silencer! You can now use Mask of Madness without getting silenced if you go for that facet. ‘Reverberating Silence’ is also a good facet, but that is more for a support Silencer.
Ursa
Both facets are great for a core Ursa. ‘Grudge Bearer’ keeps increasing his damage while he is absorbing damage in Enrage. And with his Shard, he can be Enraged for a good chunk of the fight.
At first thought, ‘Bear Down’ is good for having the Earth Shock or Fury Swipes debuff on the enemy hero for a long time. But it doesn’t say the added debuff time is just for skills – it is applied to items too! This means the passive skill from Skull Basher or the active bash from Abyssal Blade. This can be a very useful facet against elusive heroes like Anti-Mage against whom lockdown is absolutely necessary.
Honorable Mentions
Pudge
Templar Assassin
Void Spirit
As mentioned at the beginning, this is just the top 10 list based on initial impressions. There are bound to be more hidden facets with a lot of potential that reveal themselves as Dota 2 patch 7.36 is explored more in the days to come. In the next few days, GosuGamers will come up with a list of the best support facets of patch 7.36.
