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Ralakesh is a god of domination, a hero truly defined by his ultimate, Million Faces that not only multiplies his other spells but augments them as well. Carve is his primary damage and zoning tool, allowing him to wither down foes and control the battlefield. He can then amplify the suffering of his opponents by rushing in with Compel. With his ultimate, this dash turns into a tool that can also force targets out of position. Chant allows Ralakesh to protect himself and his allies while alongside his ultimate, it can debilitate and disable his enemies. Overall, creativity and foresight in ability usage is key to truly embodying the Master of a Million Faces.
Base Damage: 26 - 36 Base Armor: 2 Attack Range: 150 Movement Speed: 290
Primary Abilities
Carve
Create an orb at his location for 12 seconds, damaging enemies within it over time. Enemies who cross the edge will be slowed for 1 second.
Ability: No Target Health Cost: 10% of Current Health Cooldown: 6 Radius: 500 Damage: Physical Damage per Second: 20, 40, 60, 80 Move Slow: 75% Attack Slow: 75
Offer your blood and give up control.
Notes
The orb remains at the cast location and does not follow his movement.
Damage from multiple orbs will not stack.
Slow will not stack.
Chant
Dispel self and channel for 2 seconds, shielding nearby allies for 12 seconds when it ends.
Ability: No Target Mana Cost: 75 Cooldown: 15, 13, 11, 9 Radius: 500 Max Shield: 14, 16, 18, 20% of his Max Health
Join the hymn and sing with pride.
Notes
Dispel is a basic dispel.
Dispel occurs upon cast.
Cooldown begins after the channel ends.
Shields cannot stack.
Shield strength is based on how long the channel lasted, scaling linearly.
Interrupting the channel will still trigger the shield.
Compel
Dash towards a location, reducing the armor of enemies in his path for 6 seconds.
Ability: Target Point Mana Cost: 75 Cooldown: 18, 15, 12, 9 Range: Global Max Travel Distance: 750 Radius: 150 Armor Reduction: 3, 4, 5, 6
Hear our call and dance in harmony.
Notes
Armor reduction cannot stack.
Ultimate Abilities
Million Faces
After 1 second, mark an enemy hero as an Acolyte for 12 seconds. Whenever Ralakesh casts a basic ability, all Acolytes will cast the same spell.
Ability: Unit Target Mana Cost: 60 Range: 1000 Max Charges: 1, 2, 3 Charge Replenish Time: 60, 50, 40
Be one with Ralakesh and be at peace.
Notes
Carve incurs the health cost on Acolytes and creates an orb at their current location.
Chant dispels Acolytes and causes them to channel for 2 seconds.
Chant can be stopped early by him, ending it early for them as well but they cannot end it themselves.
Compel causes Acolytes to dash to the location and will reduce armor, including their own.
Other Abilities
Armor Corruption
Attacks reduce the target's armor for 12 seconds.
Ability: Passive Armor Reduction: 4
Notes
Unlocked with the right level 10 talent.
Same details as Phantom Assassin's Armor Corruption talent.
Control
Take control of a creep, improving its stats. It is always marked as an Acolyte.
Ability: Target Unit Health Cost: 10% of his Current Health Cooldown: 60 Range: 750 Max Units: 1 Minimum Base Health: 1250 Set Movement Speed: 400 Set Gold Bounty: 240
Notes
Unlocked with the right level 20 talent.
Same details as Helm of the Dominator’s Dominate.
Hero Talents
-5s Chant Cooldown
25
+160 Carve Damage per Second
180 Gold/Min
20
Gain Control
400 Health
15
-4 Armor Corruption
30% XP Gain
10
8 Strength
Discussion
Carve can deal considerable damage in an area but requires enemies to stay within it to make full use. Casting it while on top of an enemy can be a good way to deal damage but is easy to walk out of, crippling them with the slow but no longer dealing damage. Instead, laying down the orb at choke points that force enemies to cross into it, thereby triggering the slow as they enter the damage zone can be even more deadly. Since he can have 2 orbs down at a time by himself, spread them strategically to maximize the slow and zoning areas instead of overlapping since the damage does not stack. While its cost can be taxing, some of it can be offset by the shield from Chant. This spell is a great way to bolster his team's defense by casting it on them before an engagement. It scales off his health and not theirs, so he is encouraged to bulk himself up as much as possible to bulk his team up as well. While the spell is strongest when used proactively before a fight where it is harder for enemies to cancel the channeling, using it mid-fight for the dispel is an option as well. Since the channel is not required to get the dispel, simply casting and cancelling to quickly get rid of a debuff can be effective if the shield is not needed as much. Compel is a simple tool to not only put him in range of attacking and placing Carve, but landing it can also boost their damage. While mobility is powerful, the fact that Ralakesh would usually want to use this at the start of a fight because of all its benefits means that it is less likely he will have it for a quick escape, so punish him if the situation arises.
As mentioned before, Million Faces is why Ralakesh is who he is. This is the spell that defines his theme of letting enemies know he can dominate and control them as he pleases, the ultimate that turns every relatively simple spell before it become more interesting by introducing this dynamic. Make Carve deal even more damage and create more orbs to control more area. Use Chant to remove buffs from enemies or to shield allies normally out of his reach. It can also be used to get a shorter but multi-target version of Shackles to give him proper lockdown and keep enemies in his damage over time zones. Target Compel in such a way to bring enemies closer to your team or have them spread the armor reduction in the middle of their team. However, dashing away as an escape becomes even less of an option once an enemy is marked, so be careful of how it plays out. The fact that he can do this to multiple heroes at a time like a twisted puppet master does make him frightening to go against, but this is in lieu of an actual ultimate ability and relies on his basic spells being ready to cast, so managing his cooldowns together is important in making the most of his Acolytes.
In terms of role, he could fit in the offlane or support role. In the offlane, he can just soak experience and dash away if things get heavy. He can also shield himself and the creep wave with Chant, pushing out the wave a little to go farm the jungle where Carve is most effective at dealing damage. The orbs are also great at laying down in the middle of the lane or near your tower to hinder push attempts even if he is not there himself. As a support, he brings a respectable amount of damage and amplification but would rely a lot on allies with hard disables to effectively kill opponents. The shields and zoning he brings can be great for dissuading kills on his team, while Compel allows him to escape by himself at the very least if the odds are not in their favour. In terms of talents, the left side offers more defense and options while the right side offers more raw power. Control is especially impactful as it essentially gives him a Helm of the Dominator and a constant Acolyte at his disposal. There are some risks associated with this talent though, so sometimes the gold talent on a hero who has problems farming late game could be just as good. If the game ever goes late enough, you'll have to choose between a potentially endless supply of shielding and even more disables with his ultimate or more damage to stop creeps and be an actual kill threat to heroes.
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