Visage is a hero that remains largely ignored by the Dota 2 community, but despite his unpopularity, he possesses an extremely strong skill set that allows him to dominate games, especially when played as a carry. His power comes from his familiars, which have incredible burst potential and scaling with the right build. This guide will focus on playing Visage as a mid-lane carry, breaking down his abilities, itemization, and overall strategy to ensure you maximize his potential.

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Understanding Visage’s Role

Visage is similar to Lycan, Beastmaster, or even Meepo to some extent, as he relies on summons to deal damage. His playstyle revolves around hitting strong power spikes at specific levels and pushing his advantage aggressively. The most important aspect of playing Visage successfully is recognizing that he is extremely level-dependent. While he can technically be played as a support, this guide will focus on carry Visage, as that is the best way to play him effectively.

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Abilities Breakdown and Skill Prioritization

Grave Chill (Q) – Movement and Attack Speed Drain

• Slows an enemy while granting attack and movement speed to Visage and his familiars.
• Increases overall damage output significantly.
• Priority: Max this first.

Soul Assumption – High Burst Nuke

• Charges up based on damage dealt around Visage, then releases a high-damage nuke.
• Strong at level one, providing up to 225 magic damage instantly.
• Priority: One early point, max later.

Gravekeeper’s Cloak (E) – Damage Reduction

• Provides up to 80% damage reduction, making Visage very tanky.
• Essential for sustain in fights and mitigating burst damage.
• Priority: Max second after Q.

Summon Familiars (R) – Core Mechanic

• Summons two flying familiars that deal significant physical damage.
• Each familiar has a stun ability and can be used for scouting and pushing.
• Priority: Always level when available.

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Early Game Strategy

Starting Items:

• Blight Stone – Synergizes with familiars’ physical damage.
• Tango + Branches – Basic sustain and stat boosts.
• Quelling Blade (optional) – Helps secure last hits.

Laning Phase:

1. Focus purely on last-hitting and securing early farm and experience.
2. Avoid aggressive trades since Visage is weak pre-level 6.
3. Rush level 6 as quickly as possible.
4. Once level 6, look to force fights and take early towers using familiars.

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Mid-Game Power Spike and Itemization

Core Items:

1. Medallion of Courage → Solar Crest – Provides massive armor reduction.
2. Boots of Travel – High mobility to apply map pressure.
3. Orchid Malevolence – Ideal for countering escape-heavy heroes.

Alternative Builds:

• If facing high burst heroes (Lina, Zeus) → Pipe of Insight.
• If facing illusion-based heroes (PL, Naga) → Shiva’s Guard.
• If struggling against right-clickers → Halberd or Assault Cuirass.

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Team Fighting and Objective Control

1. Use Q (Grave Chill) to slow priority targets and amplify familiar damage.
2. Position familiars aggressively for high burst damage and zoning.
3. Stun escaping enemies with familiar Stone Form.
4. Take Roshan early using familiars’ high physical DPS.

High-Ground Push Strategy:

• Abuse familiars’ burst damage to destroy towers quickly.
• Scout enemy movements to prevent surprise engagements.
• Stagger familiar stuns to disable high-priority targets.

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Late Game and Scaling

Visage is not a great late-game hero, so the goal is to end the game early. However, if the match extends past 40 minutes:

Late-Game Items:

• Aghanim’s Scepter → Grants Visage invisibility and flight for better initiation.
• Scythe of Vyse → Hard disable to lock down enemy cores.
• Bloodthorn → Enhances damage and silences key targets.

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Closing Thoughts

Visage is a snowball-heavy hero who thrives on early aggression and objective control. If played correctly, he can dominate mid-game fights and close out games before enemies scale. Mastering his micro-control and timing will allow you to win fights decisively and secure victories efficiently.

Good luck, and start dominating with Visage!