TIMMINATORR'S AWESOME SIMPLE GUIDE TO VOID.

Introduction.

Welcome to my stort guide to Faceless Void.
I decided to make this guide because i see a lot of people playing the hero wrong, and losing the game late because they made the wrong itemchoices.

Therefore my guide shall not explain the basics of the hero like his skills.

Who is Void and what does he do?

Faceless Void is a hard carry who specialises in teamfights and earlygame pickoffs. He is considered one of the best lategame heroes, because he can completely disable an enemy for a short amount of time in his Chronosphere and kill them while they cant protect themselves.

However, a lot of people play the hero wrong, as they dont take advantage from his early potential, since his teamfight controll can be comboed with other AOE spells.

The 140 bonus magic damage from Time Lock on enemies stuck in Chronosphere allows him to pick off enemies and solo kill them as early as before 20 minutes, and with an ally you can kill enemies as soon as you are level 6.

As a result he is also able to be relevant as an offlaner and can join fights early with chronosphere.

Pros and cons.

Pros

+ Very strong lategame.
+ Can manfight prety well due to Time Lock and backtrack
+ Has a mobility spell in Time Walk that allows him to either initiate or escape.
+ Relevant at all stages of the game.
+ Has a suprisingly good laning stage for a hard carry due to his high starting HP and damage.
+ Decently versatile hero due to his ability to offlane.

Cons

- Becomes squishy despite backtrack due to his low strength gain and not picking up HP items.
- Relies A LOT on his ultimate, can be countered by a lot of different things as a result.
- Not the best at comebacks due to his slow farming rate without core items.
- Can become a liability when he isnt able to kill anyone in teamfights.
- You can **** up lategame with 1 missed chronopshere as much as you can win the game with a good one.
- Is very greedy if played as an offlaner, cant contest strong lanes and cant use the jungle as a backup.

Skillbuild.

As with pretty much every hard carry, Faceless Void has a skillbuild that needs to be adjusted a bit to the game.

Sometimes you dont need backtrack, while other times you need it earlier. Generally though you want to max Time Lock by level 7 since that will give you your damage. Without leveling it you wont have the damage to kill much heroes since the damage doubles while in chronophere.

Itembuild.

As seen by the itembuild Faceless Void needs attack speed to make the most out of Time Lock. The order of your core items depends, Mask of Madness usually before Maelstrom since it allows you to jungle.
When you get your Black King Bar depends on how needed it is. If you are countered hard and need to fight you can build a BKB sooner, but usually you should get it after Mask of Madness + Maelstrom.
Delaying it a bit is possible but you probably need it after your Mjollnir AT THE LATEST.

Core Items.

The boots of choice. They are core on almost every carry and give attack speed for Time Lock.

Gives more attack speed and allows him to jungle pretty fast. Because your enemies cant attack you while stuck in chronophere it it a very good item with him since you can get away with it. Also has good synergy with the next item.

Gives some more attack speed and the lighting that helps you with farming and killing faster. Now you have a lot of magic damage that allows you to kill almost any hero(if you get it at a good timing). Some heroes like Sven with Warcry activated may survive if you try to solo kill them.

Since Faceless Void is a hero who starts teamfights by jumping in you will need this item every game, even if the enemy doesnt have heroes who can stun you with their skills they can still buy items like Eul's Scepter of Divinity or Scythe of Vyse.
If you dont get this item then 1 simple stun can ruin the effectiveness of Chronosphere. And for an ultimate reliant hero like this it means that without it he is reduced to a melee rightclicker who can be turned on and killed really fast.

Lategame core.

A natural upgrade since you already picked up a Maelstrom. Gives even more attack speed and as a result Time Lock damage. And dont forget that even the lighting damage flying around will do a good amount of damage if you manage to catch multiple enemies in Chronosphere.

This is the item that a lot of people dont seem to pick up. A lot of people just keep on picking up too much damage and forget this item. BUT THERE IS NO THING AS TOO MUCH DAMAGE RIGHT?

WRONG!

What is the use of picking up 3 damage items that you cant use? Mask of Madness + Mjollnir + 1 damage item is almost always enough to kill atleast 2 enemies including their carry in a fight, and even if it isnt, just use the second chronophere.
It also makes sure that in the lategame you are able to fight after an enemy uses buyback. Without Chronosphere you are a melee rightclicker who gets kited and doesnt have much too offer.
Always pick up this item if you have good damage or even earlier if your allies can use the controll with AOE followup.
Just make sure you have the mana to use it.

Lategame damage.

Since Chronosphere doesnt disable evasion anymore you will need this item against enemies who buy Butterfly or Heaven's Halberd and heroes with evasion like Blur or Drunken Brawler.

A very strong damage item that makes sure you can make short work of anyone without evasion who gets trapped in the Chronosphere.
Think well about this item though, as after this you are starting to need a Refresher Orb, and if one of their heroes suddenly has a butterfly your damage is severely reduced. If you are not sure pick up the Demon Edge first so you can decide later.

Earlygame stuff.

A good farming item for this hero that gives fast levels, extra gold and a bit of the ALLMIGHTY ATTACK SPEED.
You wont need this every game though, if the game is more fast paced or you team more earlygame oriented you may want to pick up your core items faster so you can fight with them.
Void is not a hero who gets punished much for picking up a midas though, just dont pick it up late, since you are supposed to start killing some heroes around 15 minutes.

A good laning item that makes you really strong at trading hits with your opponents. Its also good against rightclick harass.

An item that is rarely picked up if it isnt in the starting items but actully speeds up your farming by a good amount. You wont need it as a starting item since your damage is very high already, but dont hesitate to pick it up along the laning stage.

Faceless Void doesnt need a lot of mana, but the bust heal/regen may just help with a clutch escape, and its never a bad item on a hero who ends up in the middle of the fight.

Another good laning item that can be very strong when you are in a mostly 1 v 1 lane. Allows you to start whacking your opponent and running him down a bit more. Is also usefull if your allies decide to gank your lane.

Situational stuff.

Can be a very effective item if you arent the only carry on your team or if playing as the offlaner.
It restricts your damage output but makes sure you have it every fight so you can use it as a setup. Also one of the few items that Faceless Void picks up that makes him tankier.

Gives decent damage output by increasing your attack speed and minus armor, but is mostly gotten to counter Elder Titan's Natural Order, as it will strip you of all base armor gained from agility.

You should never get this as a replacement farming item as it is just inferior to Mask of Madness + Maelstrom. Its only rarely picked up later in the game if your team doesnt have enough wave clear against phantom laner or [naga siren]] illusions.

Seems like a bit of a weird item on a hard carry right? Well i have even seen Blink Dagger Morphling work out really well, so it could be good on an initiating carry.
Its very situational though, you can buy it later on if your enemies have the means to escape the slower Time Walk initiation.

Also situational, since the item doesnt give the greatest damage output in the world. Its used to pruge ommniknight's Repel and Guardian Angel. Repel also blocks a significant portion of your damage since Time Lock, Maelstrom lightning and even Monkey King Bar mini bash are magic damage.
Dont blindly pick it up though, since you may not need it if an ally has bought it.

Well you are having a hard time if you pick up this item. Its very risky since void is very squishy and can get stranded after using Time Walk.
Pick it up if you are facing an exremely tanky carry like Tiny.
You will alomost always need a refresher along with it though to defend yourself unless its a desperation rapier.

This items is maily gotten for the dispel, as your illusions dont get Time Lock and you dont build a lot of other agility items.
Use it to counter Global Silence or Overgrowth.

Very situational item to help against some heroes who want to counter you. Gives really weak stats especially for its price bit can be worth it against Primal Roar, Doom and Fiend's Grip.

Combinations and counters with Chronosphere.

Heroes who combo well with you.

There are quite a lot of heroes who enjoy the lockdown that your Chronosphere gives, here the heroes work well with you.


One of the dealiest combinations in the game, these two heroes also work very well together in a deathball strategy. Even lategame exorsism ghosts whill tear any enemy apart if they are stuck in a Chronosphere.

The hero that brought Faceless Void in competetive play at first. Throwing Ice Blast into that blue bubble along with some other AOE makes sure nothing gets out of there.

Earth Splitter needs setup and you bring it. But the biggest deal is putting the Natural Order aura on top of your enemy with Astral Spirit. A Faceless Void hitting a hero with 0 base armor is not a pretty sight (for them) and will make sure that any trapped hero will melt.

Another hero that benefits from setup so he can throw an easy Chaos Meteor or get global kills with Sun Strike.

Like death prophet these two heroes fit very well together in a strategy. They also combo well Macropyre.

Takes advantage of your enemies being disabled with Chain Frost.

The combo that plagued TI4. Mystic Flare + Chronosphere kills pretty much everyone who isnt magic immune.

A massive AOE combo. ravage can serve as either setup or followup.

An extremely deadly combination. He can help get kills early game with Death Ward and demolish entire teams lategame if he gets an Aghanim's Scepter.

Heroes who counter chronosphere.

Sadly for Void there are also a lot of heroes who can make your life harder by ruining Chronosphere

The only hero who comes close to reliably 'surviving' Chronosphere with Reincarnation.

Can completely save 1 target from you by using neather swap, potentially wasting it almost entirely. Will also leave a negative Vengeance Aura on you if you kill her.

Insane tankyness along with Craggy Exterior makes him really hard to kill.

Is great at counterinitiating both you before you get Black King Bar and any followup damage from your allies.

Can spare an ally from a lot of damage with a defensive Disruption.

Can steal Chronosphere easily since you dont have any other spells to use after using it, unless you still have Time Walk and a are willing to instantly use it.
Faceless Void can still move while inside stolen Chronosphere except he will not receive extra movement speed. Rubick will gain the speed bonus inside Chronosphere.


Meat Hook can pull units out of Chronosphere and as a result Pudge is one of the few heroes who can move his allies out of it after being trapped.

outworld devourer Can use Astral Imprisonment in the same way as Disruption to make allies invulnerable.

phantom assasin Has massive evasion thanks to Blur, makes a fairly early Monkey King Bar absolutely necessary.

One of the hardest counters in the game since all 4 of his abilities counter you.
Purification heals your enemies and nukes you.
Repel blocks magic followup damage and damage from your Time Lock and Maelstrom lightning.
Degen Aura will reduce your massively important attack speed by a hefty 34 and as a result will cripple your damage output. Fear the day he lays his hand on a Shiva's Guard.
And last but not least:
Guardian Angel will block all of your rightclick damage.

Omniknight will make a Diffusal Blade on your team a necessity.

Can use Song of the Siren to waste your entire ultimate if you dont have your Black King Bar activated, or stop your allies from helping you.

Can also completely save an ally by using Relocate with Tether on an ally. Needs to be in a good position to not hit the Chronosphere before Relocate happens.

Counterinitiation or a block with Fissure can ruin an entire teamfight for you.

Doom!!!!!!!!

One of the most annoying counters there is. Shallow Grave will make sure you cant ignore the immortal 1 HP target, but you cant just keep whacking him and leave his allies alone. Weave will also make your targets much tankier with the armor it gives.

Not only can he see you coming with the call of the wild (hawk), he can also stun you from long range with Primal Roar. And even if he does not manage to hit you with it there is always the call of the wild (Boar) that will slow your attack speed with Boar Poison even through Black King Bar.

Time is up friends!

That concludes my guide to Faceless Void.

I hoped i cleared some things up regarding his itembuild, as the reason i make guides is that certain heroes just have a lot of guids with wrong item or skillbuilds.
Which is why i never made a Timbersaw guide, there just isnt much to correct about him.

I will have to think about what hero will be my next victim! Maybe ill make a thread for suggestions.