The concept of ‘facets’ was introduced to Dota 2 in patch 7.36. Here, we take a look at the top 10 support heroes with the best facets in the game.
The talk at the water cooler in all Dota 2 circles is about innate abilities and facets. The latest major additions to the game from Dota 2 patch 7.36 has changed the game drastically.
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. A few days ago, we took a look at the top 10 core heroes with the best facets. Here, we look at 10 support 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!
Chen
Chen’s facets are connected to his innate ability of being able to summon a creep without requiring a neutral creep. This is a very strong ability based on what type of draft Chen is playing with.
Need more damage? Get a Wolf Convert.
Need more lockdown? Get a Centaur Convert or Troll Convert.
Chen can probably even go mid now that he has this ability and does not require to go to the jungle once his controlled creep dies.
Crystal Maiden
Crystal Maiden’s first facet was nerfed in Dota 2 patch 7.36a.
‘Frozen Expanse’ initially provided additional AoE to allies as well, which was insane! Even if it is just for Crystal Maiden, that’s a good amount of AoE increase for Frost Nova and Freezing Field, not to mention the additional cast range.
Cold Comfort is a great skill while playing spamming heroes like Bristleback or Venomancer who frequently run out of mana in the middle of a team fight.
Dark Willow
Dark Willow’s second facet was nerfed in Dota 2 patch 7.36a.
‘Throwing Shade’ is more of a core Dark Willow facet.
‘Thorny Thicket’ was one of the best facets to come out of Dota 2 patch 7.36. It did get nerfed, but even without the nerf, the added Brambles make it a good facet to have for a support Dark Willow.
Io
Io’s facets are perfect support facets – ‘Kritzkreig’ for a snowball lineup that is expected to finish the game before a specific mark frame, and ‘Medigun’ for a lineup hoping to take it to late game. Those are the kind of options that every support hopes to have.
Monkey King
Monkey King makes an appearance in the support heroes because of his second facet, ‘Simian Trade’. Having no cooldown on Tree Dance is something a position 4 Monkey King probably dreams of. His scouting potential will go through the roof with this. One player in the professional scene to watch out for with Monkey King and this facet is Xtreme Gaming’s XinQ, who is already extremely adept at killing couriers in the laning stage, and this will just make him a pain to play against.
Muerta
The Calling is the biggest reason Muerta is played as a support. ‘Dance of the Dead’ makes the skill one of the best team fight abilities, especially in congested places like the Roshan pit. The Calling has an 8 second duration, which is a long time, and having it refreshed and get bigger is significant enough to flip the team fight.
Nyx Assassin
Nyx Assassin has been in dire need of something like the ‘Mana Burn’ facet ever since his Mana Burn ability was removed. The previous Mana Burn made him a direct counter to high intelligence heroes, as removed mana and did damage as a multiplier of the intelligence, but the facet is a decent replacement. And because it takes into account damage before reduction, this is a counter to Medusa too! Her Mana Shield may absorb the damage and not reduce her HP, but she will still lose mana from Nyx’s Mana Burn. Also, this works with damage from items like Dagon as well!
Rubick
Both of Rubick’s facets are amazing. ‘Frugal Filch’ is a good candidate when the enemy has low cooldown single target spells, like Magic Missile or Wraithfire Blast. But having ‘Arcane Accumulation for a spell like Crystal Nova or Quill Spray can lead to a pretty big AoE for the spell for a long fight.
Shadow Shaman
‘Massive Serpent Ward’ might seem like the lucrative facet for Shadow Shaman, and it can be in certain situations. But ‘Cluster Cluck’ is the facet that makes him a proper saving support. It is a mind cluck (get it?!) to play against, seeing chickens run away just when you think you’re about to get a hero.
Silencer
Silencer was a part of the top 10 core heroes with the best facets for ‘Irrepressible’. He makes the top 10 in supports for ‘Reverberating Silence’. Reverberating Silence, even though it reduces the maximum silence time by 2 seconds (from 6 seconds to 4 seconds). But it ensures that every hero gets hit by the silence at least for 1.5 seconds, unless they have two dispels. So opposition heroes either have to accept their silenced fates, or are forced into altering their item builds.
We’re still in the process of determining for sure which the best facets are. But what we know for sure is which the kooky facets are! kooky in this context refers to the unusual facets, something of the sorts the game of Dota 2 hasn’t seen before. That is the next thing GosuGamers will take a look at!
