Faceless Void in the offlane

One of the major changes of TI4 was the introduction of Faceless Void as an offlane hero.

I want to ask the community what they think about this.

Personally, I'm not a fan of this. From what I've seen, only EG have been consistently successful with this, but in my opinion, that's mainly because I consider Universe an exceptionally good offlaner. His offlane Faceless Void is one of his signature heroes (much like bone7/mag's Clockwerk or AdmiralBulldog's Nature's Prophet or Lone Druid), which might explain his consistency with the hero in the offlane, but I don't really see Void as a good offlaner.

Here are my reasons:
1. Void is deceptively squishy. Most of his survivability comes from Backtrack and the ability to Timewalk. In terms of raw HP, he is pretty squishy. Until void gains higher levels in Backtrack, it is extremely unreliable. During the early game, a couple of chain stuns are more than enough to disable void from getting his Time Walk off, which is plenty of time of kill void with his "not so high" HP.

2. He isn't a safe farming hero like a Dark Seer who can stick Ion Shell on his creeps to gain cs. He isn't like a Clockwerk that can block creeps and safely get in XP range. He isn't a Doom Bringer that can accelerate farm with Devour. He isn't a flash farmer.

3. A Faceless Void that is shut down in the early/mid game is a dead weight. He absolutely needs his Mask of Madness and Chronosphere to be useful in mid game teamfights. If he is controlled in the early game, a void cannot get that farm in the offlane, which results in him not being all that effective in the mid game.

personally i think its the best way to play him. and the stats back that up.

also offlaning is more about contributing later then surviving the offlane, which he is decepitvely STRONG at, for that reason he is a MUCH better offlaner then for instance weaver and clinkz. who i dont even consider offlaners really.

i actually consider him really tanky untill lategame unless snowballing.

also chrono doesnt require items, so it only becomes a problem later in the game.


carry void on the other hand relies on his ult to much, and farms MUCH too slow for a 1 position carry.

Think about Void offlane as a hero like Tidehunter, massive ult in teamfights, except that Chronosphere lasts a lot longer than Ravage. While you don't get farm to do the massive damage you do as a carry, your team has 4 seconds of free time to blow people up. And Void doesn't even need a blink to have a way to ult people without walking in the middle of enemies. All you need to have massive impact in teamfights is to have lvl 6.

I wasn't comparing him to a Weaver or Clinkz offlane, who I agree are terrible at offlaning. I was comparing him to more traditional offlaners like a Centaur Warrunner , Dark Seer, Batrider, Doom, Nature's Prophet, etc.

You mention he is really tanky until late game. Why is that? The way I see it, without 4 levels in Backtrack, the chance of it reliably saving him is way too low.

As a 1 position void, if I have 2 supports baby sitting me, I could rush a Hand of Midas, build Mask of Madness and Maelstrom and join with a level 2 Chronosphere by the time early game starts. With Mask of Madness and Maelstrom, isn't the farming speed good enough?



I was thinking along these lines, however, Tidehunter with Kraken Shell and Anchor Smash can get his levels reliably. On top of it, he's a str hero, so he is naturally tanky. Void on the other hand, does not have a good way to stay in lane if he is constantly harassed.

Why might a team prefer a void pick as opposed to a Tidehunter or a Centaur Warrunner that can more reliably get their levels, and have a nearly equal teamfight contribution ability in Ravage and Stampede/ Hoof Stomp/ Double Edge?

The only reason I see for this is if the #1 position carry of the team is a hero that falls off late game, and Void might have to transition to being the 1 position if the game drags on. Apart from this, is there a reason to pick Void over a Centaur/Tide?

Actually, the funny thing is, that Void has more hp than Tide and as much hp as Centaur and better armour than either of these lvl1. With Poor Man's Shield and early backtrack levels he is quite tanky. And he has a nice pseudo-blink too to help with staying safe while still sapping exp. Since he also has good base damage, it's really not that efficient for supports to trade hits with him.

think about chrono this way, it is ravage and power cogs combined, he splits up the fight and holds enemies in place. you can walk into the ravage AOE after its used, but chrono still blocks you.

hmm let me throw in my two cents.

my role is offlane.

i play a lot of offlane. i kinda live there. (side note: i hate playing Bristleback )

but i have tried pretty much every offlaner.

what makes a successful offlaner is trifold.

- survivability : they need a RELIABLE escape mechanism
- hp/reduction : they either need to have a high strength gain or some fore of damage reduction.
- impact/team utility: their skills should make an IMPACT upon the game which is why you want them those extra levels.

Faceless Void has:

Back Track which is a form of reduction.
Time Walk which is a reliable escape.
Chronosphere which is one of the abilities that can really make an impact upon the game.

now from that you would say : YES he is a good offlaner but here is where it gets complicated.

Chronosphere means long complete lock down BUT it also means that your team might be as well which leaves you to do the majority of the damage if you catch any of your team in it. this isnt as good as say Ravage because your team IN TOTAL can still be in play. so your ultimate though it makes an IMPACT can also IMPACT your team as much as the enemy.

Time Walk has a long cooldown and is very short range level one. being dragged past your river line/secret shop line or even your jungle transition points means that unless you are super dumb and do not have a tp you wont escape.

Back Track is not very good level one. in fact it takes till level 3 for it to be put to any work. and even though you may back track a fair bit. technically it isnt a REDUCTION since if it doesn't proc then your going to be taking the full force of that hit.

Now looking at that you might change your mind and say : NO he isnt a good offlaner.

Now here is why in current meta he is a good offlaner:

Teams build around him.

Skywrath Mage Earthshaker Pugna Mirana Witch Doctor

by having a 6 minute Chronosphere on 2-3 heroes plus on top of that a death ward or an arrow or a life drain you are guaranteeing a double or triple and because Faceless Void is involved he gains either kill gold or assist gold which in turn completely accelerates his farm this is why you see in pro games a Faceless Void with way more assists then kills while in pubs when safe lane farming it is the opposite.

thus you see a Faceless Void offlaner stay in lane till six then go for a gank or his team rotates in they get a double or triple then force a tower and he goes off and farms in the jungle or another lane while the rest of the team create space. by doing this you have a 6 minute Chronosphere and space for him to farm while on cooldown.

now in saying all that i actually prefer him solo safelane against a solo offlaner, this allows him the farm and the levels so your getting the best of both worlds.

He's okay there, not really top-tier in my book. In terms of his laning he has enough to get by and nothing more. Hard to kill but fairly easy to zone out. Leaves the enemy support a lot of freedom - unlike most other offlaners, he won't destroy the carry if left in a 1v1. Very dependent on having the right composition.

The only reason anyone talks about him at all is because Universe does so well with him (15-1 in current patch) - excluding him, offlane void has only a 45% winrate.