Visage

Visage

The Dire

22 + 2.4 11 + 1.3 24 + 2.5

Level 1 16 25 Hit Points 568 1290 2031 Mana 312 819 1352 Damage 45-55 84-94 125-135 Armor 0.54 3.48 7.68 Attacks / Second 0.65 0.77 0.95

Movement Speed 295 Turn Rate 0.5 Sight Range 1800/800 Attack Range 600 Missile Speed 900 Attack Duration 0.46+0.54 Cast Duration 0.4+1.1 Base Attack Time 1.7

Visage, the bound form of Necro'lic, is a ranged intelligence Hero whose traits are unusual when compared to most Intelligence heroes; he can be a Ganker, Tank, or Nuker. Resilient and ruthless, Visage is a highly aggressive hero thanks to his great Strength and Gravekeeper's Cloak which allow him to soak up surprising amounts of damage. This is especially true from attacks mounted by Heroes who try to chip at his health with spells and burst damage without committing to a protracted engagement. This unholy gargoyle thrives in the midst of large battles, where the abundant pain and suffering in the air charges his Soul Assumption: allowing him to fire off huge bursts of magical damage in rapid succession. Additionally, Visage's proficiency with auto-attacks is augmented by his ability to absorb the attack and movement speed of his foes with Grave Chill. Finally, his versatile ultimate, Familiars, is arguably the best scouting utility in the game while also being excellent sources of damage and AOE disables. Utilizing his Familiars to their fullest requires constant split attention and good positioning to avoid feeding their large bounties to an enemy Hero. With a legion of ghostly gargoyles, incredible toughness and fast attacks, Visage sows terror and agony; relentlessly hunting poor souls and leading them in the shackles of death to the gates of the Underscape.

Bio

Visage, the Bound Form of Necro'lic Play "To oppose me is to deny death." Role: Nuker / Durable / Disabler Lore: Perched atop the entrance to the Narrow Maze sit the looming shapes of sneering gargoyles, the paths into the hereafter forever in their gaze. Beasts and birds, men and monsters, all creatures that die and choose to travel beyond must someday pass beneath their sight. For an untethered spirit, the decision to journey through the veil of death is irrevocable. When chance comes, and by craft or cunning some restless soul escapes their hells and heavens, it is the dreaded gargoyle Visage, the bound form of the eternal spirit Necro’lic, who is dispatched to reclaim them. Ruthless and efficient, unhindered by the principles of death and fatigue, Visage stalks its prey without mercy or end, willingly destroying all which may give shelter to the fugitive essence. That which flaunts the laws of the afterlife may never rest, for while it is true that the dead may be revived, it is only a matter of time before Visage finds and returns them to their proper place. Voice: Dempsey Pappion (Responses)

Abilities

Grave Chill Q G Ability Affects Target Unit Enemies Visage drains the movement and attack speed of the targeted unit, gaining it for itself. Movement speed drained: 32% Attack speed drained: 64% Duration: 3/4/5/6 Range: 600 10 70/80/90/100 The warmth of the sun is never felt in the dark cold of the Narrow Maze.

Notes: The buff on Visage and debuff on the target can be purged seperately. The speed gained is independent of the amount that was reduced on the target.

Soul Assumption W C Ability Affects Damage Target Unit Enemies Magical Visage damages the targeted unit based on the number of soul charges. Visage gains a soul charge when damage taken by all heroes around him reaches the damage threshold. Base damage: 20 Soul damage: 65 Assumption radius: 1375 Maximum soul charges: 3/4/5/6 Damage threshold: 110 Duration: 6 Range: 900 4 170/160/150/140 The collected souls of the dead reach out to bring another into their fold.

Notes: The soul counter increases by 1 for each 110 damage taken by heroes within 1375 radius of Visage. The soul counter only increases for damage greater than 2 and less than 3000, only counts damage from a player unit or Roshan, and does not count self-inflicted damage nor damage dealt by Soul Assumption itself. Each amount of damage added to the soul counter expires after 6 seconds, or when Soul Assumption is cast. When cast, launches a projectile at the target hero that will deal 20+65×(charges on soul counter) when it hits, the projectile moves at 1000 movement speed. Maximum damage : 215/280/345/410

Gravekeeper's Cloak E V Ability Affects Passive Self Visage generates a layered barrier that protects him from physical and magical attacks. If he receives damage from a player, one layer is removed, and takes time to recover. Armor per layer: 1/2/4/5 Magic resistance per layer: 3%/6%/12%/16% Maximum layers: 4 Recovery time: 12/10/8/6 Visage's tough scales share equal properties of ghost and stone, making it nearly impervious to blade and magical assault.

Notes: Each time the Visage receives damage greater than 2 that was not self-inflicted and was from a player owned source, a layer is removed.

Summon Familiars R T Ability No Target Conjures up two blind Familiars to fight for Visage. Familiars have high attack power, but each attack drains a charge of damage that recharges slowly over time. Familiars possess the Stone Form ability, that allows them to turn into stone, stunning enemies upon landing. While in Stone Form, Familiars are invulnerable, and rapidly regenerate their health and damage. Familiars grant high bounty when killed. Familiars summoned: 2 (3*) Familiar duration: Until Killed Familiar health: 300/450/600 Familiar armor: 0/1/2 Familiar movement speed: 380/390/400 Familiar attack range: 160 Familiar maximum bonus damage: 56/98/154 Familiar bounty: 100 180/160/140 150 Summons 3 familiars. Guardians of the Narrow Maze, Necro'lic's Familiars stand watch over his domain.

Notes: Currently existing Familiars are destroyed upon casting of Summon Familiars.

Familiars

Familiar
Duration Until Killed Hit Points 300 / 450 / 600 Mana - Damage 10 - 10 Armor 0 - 2 (Hero) Movement Speed 380 / 390 / 400 Sight Range 390/390 Attack Range 160 Missile Speed 900 Attack Duration 0.33+0.2 Base Attack Time 0.4 Bounty 100 Experience 41 Notes 96.25% magic resistance

Each Familiar starts with 7 charges of bonus damage, each charge gives 8/14/22 bonus damage. Familiars lose one charge each time they attack, and gain one charge every 15 seconds from when they were summoned.

Familiars have 96.25% magic resistance, and are generally targeted as heroes by abilities (though exceptions may apply). For a breakdown of such cases, see Familiar Spell Interaction.

Familiars have the attack type "Hero".

Stone Form Q Ability Affects Damage No Target Enemies Magical After a short delay, the Familiar turns into stone and smashes into the ground, stunning and damaging all targets in the area. The Familiar becomes invulnerable, and will regain its damage charges and health very rapidly. After 8 seconds, the Familiar will automatically leave Stone Form. Stun duration: 1/1.25/1.5 Stun radius: 325 Stun damage: 60/100/140 Stun delay: 1 Stone form duration: 8 Bonus regeneration: 50/68.7/87.5 30

Notes: After Stone Form is cast, there is a 0.5 second delay before the Familiar becomes invulnerable. If the Familiar is killed after Stone Form is cast but before it becomes invulnerable, the stun will still occur.

Recommended items

Explanation: Visage is a hero that needs to be extremely present on the map throughout the entire game, as such, he needs to purchase his standard boots to remedy his very low move speed as his first early game item, and upgrade them to Power Treads as soon as possible for extra survivability and to boost his normally sub par attack speed, although, Boots of Travel are an option late game, but you will not see them very often due to Visage being a supportive hero. A Magic Wand is nearly essential to replenish your HP and mana during a team fight, where Visage shines. You will need to pick up a Ring of Basilius as soon as you hit level 6, so your Familiars and lane partner(s) to benefit from its armour and mana regen. As Visage, tankiness and overall damage are a must in most situations. A Heart of Tarrasque will vastly improve your overall HP and HP regen, allowing you to take many more hits than usual. Aghanim's Scepter is a great pickup on Visage, as an extra familiar will make it so you can stun 1.5 seconds longer, and can help even further increase how much your Soul Assumption hurts the enemy. Assault Cuirass is a good pickup, as it will buff your teammates and familiars with bonus attack speed and armour, as well as apply negative armour to enemies, allowing you to take them down easier. Shiva's Guard is also a good item on Visage, helping boost how many soul charges you gain in a fight even further, and can help catch fleeing enemies, Scythe of Vyse is a good item if you need to keep down an enemy with high HP for long enough to kill them when they are fleeing or attacking. Rod of Atos provides you with more health, and a slow, helping Visage to catch up a fleeing hero, which he greatly needs to do, especially late game due to his bad movement speed. Mjolnir is also a good pickup, providing damage and great attack speed to Visage, while also being able to buff himself or the carry to dish out even more damage, thus, gaining more charges.

Tips

• Take Soul Assumption at level 1 if you intend to first blood and have adequate slow/stuns in your lane to make it happen. If not, take Grave Chill instead at the beginning.
• A lot of Visage's strength comes from an early level 6 and a strong laning phase.
• You should max out Soul Assumption as soon as possible as it is a very potent nuke with very low cooldown allowing you to spam provided you or your allies are taking damage and have sufficient mana.
• Summon Familiars should be taken at level 6, as their damage is of great assistance.
• Familiars deal significant damage early game and it can be used to stun opponents or interrupt channeling spells like teleportation. Be warned, the familiars have a very small line of sight but still enough for you to scout ahead or keep track of an enemy that is attempting to juke you.
• Familiars damage reduces after each attack and will reach to a pathetic 10 damage after 7 attacks. You should start using them to stun your opponents once they run out of charges.
• Stone form takes 1 second to form, this is quite significant especially when chasing a moving hero. Stone form can also be used to stun your opponents to help you escape sticky situations.
• Stone Form can be cast in succession allowing you to 'chain-stun' your opponents. Depending on your skills in micromanagement, you can AoE stun for a lengthy 6 seconds by re-summoning familiars in the middle of the battle.
• Take great care not to let your familiars be killed, as they grant a 100 reliable gold bounty EACH.
• Familiars in the middle of the stone form animation (before they reach the ground) can still be killed. They will still perform their stun regardless of if they are killed during this animation.
• For new players, an easy way to learn Familiar micro is to park your familiars over trees (where they can't be sniped) behind the person you want to kill and fly them out when initiating. You can even practice this to some degree against bots.
• Familiars do not expire unless killed or re-summoned

Trivia

• Visage has one of the most numerous skill remakes in the game, with Grave Chill being his only mainstay:
  • Soul Assumption, in an earlier version, was an auto-cast enabled attack modifier where he will deal bonus damage and steal the life of his enemies upon death, healing him and leaving no corpse.
  • Gravekeeper's Cloak used to be a passive aura where enemies in the area will be damaged after attacking Visage, physical or magical, similar to Centaur Warrunner's Return or Spectre's Dispersion.
  • Raise Revenants, his former ultimate, lets him summon up to eight pitch-black, gargoyle-shaped spirits from a corpse. It was likely changed because of it being a very effective scouting tool that makes map control easier. The Revenants had good vision range, a flying attribute, and can be resummoned easily since the skill neither cost a lot of mana nor had a long cooldown. This, along with the fact that the Revenants did not do a lot of damage on their own (attack modifier limits their damage to one-third the stated amount against heroes) and no special abilities give them very limited usage in combat situations.

Update history

March 28, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Familiars not getting affected by Chronosphere.

March 21, 2013 Patch

• Fixed attack acquisition range on Disruptor, Keeper of the Light, Wisp, Visage and Medusa.

March 14, 2013 Patch

• Fixed a number of incorrect spell interactions with Familiars.
• Revised overhead Soul Assumption indicator.

February 07, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Cleave hitting Familiars.

January 31, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Roshan decreasing Gravekeeper's Cloak charges.

January 24, 2013 Patch

• Fixed Attack and Defense type on level 3 Familiars.

December 06, 2012 Patch

• Updates on sound effects for Visage, Viper, Warlock, Tiny and Earthshaker.

November 08, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Familiars agroing neutrals when flying over them.

October 18, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Familiars attack timings taking much longer than intended.
• Tweaking the scale and offset of Visage and his units.

August 02, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Soul Assumption gaining charges from enemy self inflicted damage.
• Fixed Familiars being counted considered as basic creeps for the purposes of extra duration spells (like Paralyzing Casks).

July 27, 2012 Patch

• Fixed Soul Assumption gaining charges from Illusions.
• Fixed some movement formation issues with Familiars.
• Fixed Stone Form stun not going off if a Familiar died while casting it.

July 26, 2012 Patch

• Added Nyx Assassin, Keeper of the Light, and Visage and enabled in Captain's Mode!

Balance changelog

6.75

• Base Intelligence increased by 3.
• Grave Chill attack speed drain increased from 32 to 64.
• Summon Familiars's base attack time decreased from 0.6 to 0.4.
• Soul Assumption damage per charge increased from 60 to 65.

6.74

• Summon Familiars's armor increased from 0 to 0/1/2.
• Gravekeeper's Cloak's Cloak recovery time decreased from 14/12/10/8 to 12/10/8/6.

6.73

• Added Aghanim's Scepter for Visage (creates 1 extra familiar).
• Soul Assumption manacost rescaled from 200/180/160/140 to 170/160/150/140.

6.72

• Base Strength decreased from 25 to 22.
• Strength growth increased from 2.2 to 2.4.
• Soul Assumption manacost rescaled from 150 to 200/180/160/140.
• Summon Familiars HP improved from 300/400/500 to 300/450/600.

6.68

• Gravekeeper's Cloak
  • Armor bonus rescaled from 2/3/4/5 armor per layer to 1/2/4/5 per layer
  • Magic resistance rescaled from 4/8/12/16% reduction per layer to 3/6/12/16 per layer
• Summon Familiars
  • Maximum damage rescaled from 84/105/126 to 56/98/154
  • Cooldown from 160 to 180/160/140
• Soul Assumption mana cost increased from 100 to 150

6.66

• Soul Assumption
  • Damage per charge decreased from 130 to 110
  • Manacost from 100/120/140/160 to 100
  • Cooldown from 7/6/5/4 to 4
• Summon Familiars
  • Bounty reduced from 150 to 100
  • Now magic reduction from 70/95/95% to 95% at all levels
  • bonus damage attack bonus attack damage from 72/90/100 to 84/105/126
  • Now have a small (160) ranged attack instead of melee
• Gravekeeper's Cloak recharge time improved from 14/12/10/8 to 10/9/8/7

6.65

• Reworked

6.58

• Rebalanced Raise Revenants (5/6/7 Max to 4/5/6 Max, Sight radius reduced by 50%, 29/39/49 damage to 40/46/52)

6.55

• Decreased day vision on Revenants by 400

6.50

• Redesigned Visage

Pre-6.65 rework Abilities

Grave Chill (Old) Q G Ability Affects Target Unit Enemies Visage drains the movement and attack speed of the targeted unit, gaining it for itself. Movement speed drained: 8%/16%/24%/32% Attack speed drained: 8/16/24/32 Duration: 10 (enemy) 15 (self) Range: 600 18 110/120/130/140 The warmth of the sun is never felt in the dark cold of the Narrow Maze.

Notes: The buff on Visage and debuff on the target can be purged seperately. The speed gained is independent of the amount that was reduced on the target.

Soul Assumption (Old) W T Ability Affects Passive Self Units that die near Visage regenerate him and give him 6 bonus damage. Enemies' denies don't count. Heal: 4/8/12/16 Max damage bonus: 12/24/36/96 Duration: 30 Radius: 625 The collected souls of the dead reach out to bring another into their fold.

Notes: The bonus damage and healing effect happen instantly when a creep dies in the AoE. The bonus damage given by a unit's death will be removed after 30 seconds, independantly of other unit's deaths.

Gravekeeper's Cloak (Old) E V Ability Affects Passive Self Causes any damage taken by Visage to be reflected and changed to heal all allies in a nearby AoE. Damage healed: 10%/15%/20%/25% Radius: 800 Visage's tough scales share equal properties of ghost and stone, making it nearly impervious to blade and magical assault.

Notes: Reduces all damage types.

Raise Revenants R E Ability No Target Raises a revenant from a corpse. Maximum Revenants: 4/5/6 Duration: Until Killed Range: 900 6 50 Guardians of the Narrow Maze, Necro'lic's Familiars stand watch over his domain.

Notes: Revenants cannot attack items or runes. When raising a new revenant above your max revenant count, a random revenant (which could be the one you just raised) will die.

Gallery

• 

  Splash artwork

See also

• Visage responses