The Best Dota 2 Facets You Have to Pick

Dota 2

26 May

Otomo

The latest gameplay update to Valve's flagship MOBA introduced Dota 2 Facets, unique customization choices that allow players to modify heroes to suit their playstyle.

Most Dota 2 Facets are balanced with each being viable. But not all options are equal and some Facets are flat-out better than others. Those are the ones we'll be exploring today.

The five best Dota 2 Facets in patch 7.36a

Meepo

An extra Meepo you say? why not! (Credit: Valve)

More Meepo

Divided We Stand: Increases maximum level from 3 to 4 and changes level requirement from 4/11/18 to 3/10/17/24

Meepo's entire schtick is his ability to use clones to farm faster, split push, kill enemies, and combine with Aghanim to become unkillable.

Divided We Stand is amazing, it allows the hero to hit each power spike a level earlier, greatly improving his snowballing potential. He also gets a fourth level to his ultimate, although most games will likely end before it kicks in.

Divided We Stand allows the hero to improve what he does best and that's hard to pass on, especially considering the other option.

Pack Rat is pretty underwhelming as an option. While equipping any item in the Neutral slot might be good in the early game, once you hit Tier Three, Neutral Items are well worth having. Taking a Dota 2 Facet that allows you to equip a seventh item instead of a Neutral one is pretty pathetic.

Pudge

Maybe one day we will get a lean Pudge cosmetic. (Credit: Valve)

Fresh Meat

Dismember: When targeting heroes, Dismember increases Pudge's Strength by 1/3/5 per tick for 12s

Dismember deals six ticks of damage, so Fresh Meat gives Pudge 6/18/30 strength for 12 seconds when fully channeled. That translates to 540 extra health, along with extra damage on Dismember.

Those are pretty hefty bonuses, and useful throughout the game. Dismember is a hard spell to screw up and all the bonuses Fresh Meat provides are much appreciated.

Flayer's Hook, on the other hand, is.... well I don't wanna call it garbage, because that would be an insult to garbage.

Reducing Hook's damage by 50% while dealing 30% of the distance dragged sounds bad on paper and it is. Flayer's Hook only deals more damage if Pudge can catch a target from 600 or more.

I wouldn't trust most Pudge players to hit a point-blank Hook, let alone one from some distance away. Flayer's Hook most of the time is a nerf to the hero, and it has to compete against an amazing Dota 2 Facet.

Do yourself a favor and take Fresh Meat.

Lifestealer

Truly a face only a mother could love. (Credit: Valve)

Corpse Eater: Lifestealer permanently gains +2 Max Health per unit killed

Two health per unit isn't massive but adds up throughout the game. Carries should kill around 400 creeps in 35 minutes, that's an additional 800 health.

Corpse Eater gets better as the game drags on and can pack a lot of health for the Lifestealer. It is at least as good as Centaur's Raw Hide ability and slightly better if you can farm well.

At this point of the article, you'd expect me to say how bad Unfettered is but that Facet is so bad I won't even dignify it with a discussion. I'll let its sub-40% win rate do that for me.

Visage

Sepulchre has a lot going for it. (Credit: Valve)

Sepulchre

Grave Chill: Affects all enemies within 300 units from the target. Gains only 25% of its bonuses from each secondary target

Grave Chill is a solid ability that slows enemies by 30% and drains 70 attack speed. The drained values are added to Visage and his summoned units, providing them more damage and chase potential.

Turning a single target spell into an AoE is always a nice upgrade and it's worth noting that Grave Chill works on creeps and enemies, so you can use this while an enemy (especially melee heroes) is farming and gain multiple unit bonuses thanks to Sepulchre.

Faithful Followers on the other hand aims to make Visage's ultimate easier to use at the cost of utility. It's an odd Dota 2 facet and while I don't play Visage, I recognize that losing control of your units is never good (just as Troll Warlord).

Legion Commander

The biggest win discrepancy is between Legion Commander's Facets. (Credit: Valve).

Stonehall Plate

Overwhelming Odds: Grants Legion Commander an all-damage barrier equal to 50% of the damage dealt to enemy heroes. Barrier Duration: 8s

Without a doubt, the strongest Dota 2 Facet in patch 7.36a is Stonehall Plate. Pick this or uninstall the game.

Let's talk numbers, at level 7 Stonehall Plate provides 94 Barrier per hero, it's not much but it ramps up significantly if you catch multiple opponents due to how the spell works.

At 2 enemies, that's a 282 Barrier, it's 568 if you can hit three, which is fairly reasonable considering the spell's 600 radius.

You can't lose Duels with such a buff to Legion Commander's durability, and you can use that to snowball and climb the MMR ladder without relying on your team.

Imagine jumping an enemy carry but you're worried they can kill you before you bring them down, well no problem! Stonehall Plate will do all the tanking you need.

Let's discuss the other far less attractive Facet, Spoils of War.

I know I know, infinite scaling for the entire team, how is that NOT the best Facet in the galaxy?

Firstly it relies on winning Duel, which isn't always guaranteed and Legion Commander can have a bad game and end up supporting allies with Press the Attack.

Secondly, you need allies to deal damage during Duel, you won't always get that, and in the early game supports are the ones moving with Legion Commander. How useful is that +4 damage for Crystal Maiden?

Well, if you add it to the attack speed talent at 20. (Credit: Valve).

Thirdly, what happens if the Legion Commander loses?

Well in such a scenario all enemies gain bonus damage, seriously compounding an already bad result.

I don't think Spoils of War is bad, but it is precarious and inferior to Stonehall Plate, so skip it.

That's our list of the best Dota 2 Facets in patch 7.36a. Let us know if you agree in the comments below.

Featured Image Source: Valve