[Top 10] Dota 2 Visage Counters (Best Heroes Against Visage in Dota 2)



The vicious and chilling Visage has been a staple pick since the last few patches. Primarily played in the mid lane, he is known to struggle in the early stages of the game due to the lack of damage to secure creeps, but the tables turn as soon as Visage gets his ultimate. Not only can he gank lanes with his familiars, but Visage also has high armor which makes him resilient in teamfights. He can translate well into the late game if he manages to keep up the pace right through the early game. A late-game Visage is not a laughing matter, with his Aghanim and Shard, he will eagerly destroy you!

Agreed, Visage is a tough nut to crack but it is not impossible to counter him. There are a few heroes who are exceptional at cracking his tough armor and neutralizing him in no time. We bring you the Best 10 Visage Counters in the current patch!

Best General Items Against Visage

  • Solar Crest - Upon cast, it grants armor, attack speed, and movement speed to the targetted ally while reducing the same stats from enemies. This peels off the armor from Visage and cripples him down, making him unable to stand firm in teamfights.
  • Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for Visage if he is under the AoE. Since Visage has extreme amounts of armor, this item is highly useful in the game's later stages.
  • Lotus Orb - Upon usage, it reflects targetted spells to the caster. Along with that, it can be used to dispel any enemy debuffs. It can hence be used to reflect or dispel both Grave Chill and Soul Assumption.
  • Force Staff - Allows you to force yourself or the targetted unit 600 units ahead in the direction they are facing, it can be useful to catch or escape from Visage.
  • Maelstorm/Mjolnir - Malestorm provides a chance to deal AoE damage on physical attacks. It’s a great item to counter the familiars by dealing AoE damage to them. Its upgrade, Mjolnir, can be used to cast on yourself or allies to deal AoE damage to enemies attacking you under its duration. Both of these items are excellent to stop Visage’s onslaught.
  • Glimmer Cape/Shadow Blade - Invisibility of any sort is always great against Visage due to the lethality of his spells. Glimmer Cape is more of a support’s way of escaping Visage’s onslaught or aiding their allies in escaping as upon cast it turns you or the targetted ally invisible.
  • Scythe of Vyse - Upon usage it hexes Visage, essentially making him unable to use spells or items, along with reducing his movement speed for 3.5 seconds. 

10. Luna

Luna is a quintessential counter to Visage, and there are many reasons why she is often seen being picked against ranged heroes like him. Visage despises AoE attacks and magical damage, both of which are qualities that Luna possesses. Visage lacks in the AoE department, hence he can’t farm as fast as the Moonrider Luna. 

Luna offers tremendous wave clearance, which returns her a great deal of gold. She can clear Visage’s pesky familiars within no time. She farms fairly well in the early game compared to the latter and offers decent damage to her nearby allies. Luna can be picked alongside massive crowd-control heroes, which prove to be a great counter to Visage at any stage of the game. 

Why is Luna a great counter to Visage? 

  • Eclipse deals magic damage, which is essential Visage as he has high armor/HP, which can be burst down quickly by the ultimate itself.
  • Immense farming potential due to the Moon Glaive passive.
  • Moon Glaives is effective at destroying Familiars and will remove one instance of Gravekeeper's Cloak upon each hit to Visage, leaving him susceptible to damage.

Items to buy on Luna

  • Eye of Skadi - Reduces regen and heal upon physical attacks. It helps reduce Visage’s regen. Eye of Skadi also provides Luna with increased stats and HP.
  • Satanic - Provides increased lifesteal on physical attacks upon activation, also provides basic dispel from the latter.
  • Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, negating all the slowness and damage being dealt by Visage.
  • Butterfly - Increases evasion, agility, and movement speed. Butterfly essentially makes Luna untouchable in the late game due to the high miss chance and physical damage.
  • Mana Style - Creates two illusions of Luna on usage, also allowing her to dispel Visage’s spells or dodge the if he times it right. It can also be used to split push lanes and farm efficiently.
  • Hurricane Pike - Allows Luna to close the gap and deal immense damage to Visage, also provides decent stats, and increases attack range

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Luna 

9. Huskar

Huskar the ferocious hunter leaves no stone unturned. His crazy damage potential is unmatched by the vehement Visage. He makes the latter weaker with his fire. Huskar is a very aggressive hero, which fares well against pretty much all heroes including Visage as he stands no chance in a purely mid-matchup. Visage can’t simply deal with the overwhelming damage being dished out by the harrowing Huskar.

Though a slow farmer, Visage relies more on kills to acquire gold, hence ganking other lanes as soon as possible. Huskar is known to initiate, hence he builds items that allow him to start and sustain team fights. His attack speed can slightly be countered by Visage but he can surely decimate him if the fight stretches out for a longer period.

Why is Huskar a great hero against Visage? 

  • Great at harassing Visage in the laning stage.
  • Extremely relevant through the late game with his lethal damage
  • Huskar's burn damage from Burning Spear is incredibly strong against Visage as it negates his armor.
  • Extremely high survivability and as tanky as Visage.

Items to buy against Visage

  • Armlet of Mordiggian - Provides increased HP and damage, and is toggleable. Huskar benefits highly from this toggleable HP mechanic against Visage.
  • Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for enemies in an AoE.
  • Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, negating all the slowness and damage being dealt by Visage while making him invulnerable in teamfights
  • Heaven’s Halberd - Disarms Visage making him unable to attack Huskar while he can freely attack them It is a useful item to easily get your attacks onto Visage without much retaliation.
  • Satanic - Provides increased lifesteal on physical attacks upon activation, also provides basic dispel from the latter.

 https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Huskar

8. Tidehunter

Tidehunter does exceptionally well against Visage as he can simply lower his armor and deal high damage while significantly reducing the damage he takes in return. He deals little to no damage to the former due to Anchor Smash along with his naturally high Base Armor. Tide can simply blink into Ravage and have his team follow up on the Visage, he can also build items like Solar Crest, or Lotus Orb to counter certain mechanics of the latter’s gameplay.

Visage has no choice but to ignore this mighty melon man during teamfights as he can not deal damage due to the heavy Kraken Shell even with the help of his familiars. Tide can simply negate all the damage and tank through the team fight, shielding his cores. Visage has no way to turn the tides against the Tidehunter in the late game!

Why is Tidehunter a great counter to Visage? 

  • Visage's Familiars cannot penetrate Kraken Shell and will do almost no damage to Tidehunter even with Medallion of Courage or Solar Crest.
  • Anchor Smash's bonus damage has the potential to kill Familiars.
  • Tidehunter does not rely heavily on farm and can rotate lanes to hunt Visage quite early on in the game, as soon as his Ravage is available.

Items to Buy on Tidehunter

  • Blink Dagger - On cast, Blink transports Tidehunter 1200 units in the distance he is facing, can’t be used for 3 seconds if he takes any form of damage. Blink is used to close the gap and get on top of Visage as he is a ranged hero, or it can also be used to escape away from him.
  • Shiva’s Guard - Upon activation, it deals damage in an AoE around Tidehunter, slowing down the affected targets. It also provides increased armor and reduces enemy armor in an AoE.
  • Lotus Orb - Upon usage, it reflects targetted spells to the caster. It can also be used by Tidehunter to dispel any enemy debuffs. It can hence be used to reflect or dispel both Grave Chill and Soul Assumption.
  • Aghanim’s Scepter and Shard - The Scepter makes Gush AoE and the Shard grants him Tendrils of the Deep ability which stuns enemies within his reach. The tentacles are essentially a mini ravage, with 75% of Ravage’s radius, making it easy for Tidehnter to reach Visage.
  • Force Staff - Allows Tidehunter to force himself or the targetted unit 600 units ahead in the direction they are facing. It is quite essential in catching or escaping from Visage as it does not get disabled on physical attacks like the Blink Dagger.

 https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Tidehunter

7. Chaos Knight

Chaos Knight is unbearably strong against heroes with low AoE damage as they can not disperse the illusions, this includes Visage who lacks severely in that area. Visage shines bright in the early game, while CK prefers playing in the late game. Chaos Knight can eventually accumulate extreme farm to turn the tides in the late game and destroy squishy Visage in no time with his high physical damage along with his illusions.

Although he lacks in the farming department, CK is extremely tanky and is only threatened by multiple heroes at once. CK can snowball easily if he manages to get a few kills in the early game. He can also sustain himself in team fights due to his naturally high armor and HP. All he needs is a good early game and a free farm to counter Visage in the late game, where he eventually falters off due to armor corruption and less impact.

Why is Chaos Knight a great counter to Visage? 

  • Visage can be destroyed easily with the multiple illusions from CK’s ultimate. His AoE spells lack the damage to disperse the illusions quickly.
  • Visage has low base armor which makes him highly vulnerable to Chaos Knight's high damage output and armor reduction.
  • Chaos Knight has a high health pool due to him being a strength hero, making him resistant to Visage's burst damage. 

Items to Buy against Visage

  • Armlet of Mordiggian - Provides increased HP and damage, and is toggleable. CK benefits highly from this toggleable HP mechanic against Visage due to the latter’s high magical burst damage. It also aids CK in surviving through the early game.
  • Echo Sabre - It provides insane stats along with increased damage and attack speed. It is an essential item that is built in the early game of Chaos Knight.
  • Black King Bar - It provides CK with spell immunity from all of Visage’s magic damage spells and effects, making him invulnerable in the fight. It is not an item you see often on Chaos Knight but it is a staple against high lockdown and disable heroes like Visage.
  • Manta Style - On usage, it creates two illusions of Chaos Knight, allowing him to dispel certain spells or dodge if he times it right. Can work in tandem with Reality Rift, exceptional to push lanes effortlessly and dispel spells.
  • Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for enemies in an AoE.
  • Eye of Skadi - It reduces HP regen and healing upon physical attacks from CK. It helps reduce Visage’s regen if he opts for Bloodstone. Eye of Skadi also provides increased stats and HP which is optimal in the later stages of the game for a Chaos Knight. 

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Chaos_Knight

6. Lifestealer

The lethal Lifestealer ruptures even the most meta heroes like Visage. If it isn’t obvious, Lifestealer is a carry hero, and he is quite good at carrying the team on his back, especially if he is playing against squishy heroes. It is highly unlikely that Lifestealer goes head to head against Visage in the laning phase, meaning he can secure farm for himself and fare well in the early game courtesy of the lifesteal and magic immunity from Rage which also proves useful in the late game. Visage does have that mini window in the early game where he can try to gank the Lifestealer, but if he fails at that, then he may never get another chance to gank him again.

Visage’s magic damage and slow can be negated quite effortlessly by the Lifestealer with the help of his Rage, right from the early game., making him invulnerable against the vicious Gargoyle in teamfights. Lifestealer mainly relies on kills to get gold, making him a fight-oriented hero, as with the right items he can obliterate the entire enemy team and turn Visage’s ashes into dust.

Why is Lifestealer a great counter to Visage? 

  • Lifestealer has inbuilt magic immunity with Rage, allowing him to dodge all the magic damage and disables from Visage’s spells.
  • Visage is squishy and can be destroyed with just a few physical attacks in the late game even if the former has max Gravekeeper’s Cloak.
  • Lifestealer can rupture through the familiars and does not have to worry about their stun as he can simply use Rage to dodge it.

Items to Buy against Visage

  • Armlet of Mordiggian - Provides increased HP and damage, and is toggleable. Lifestealer benefits highly from this toggleable HP mechanic against Visage.
  • Desolator - Provides increased damage along with armor corruption on physical attacks. It can also gain stacks and increased the mentioned perks with the increase in stacks. Desolator is ideal to mow down the squishy Visage, as he loses his high armor on physical attacks.
  • Skull Basher - Provides a chance to Bash (Mini Stun) on physical attacks. It can further be upgraded into Abyssal Blade later on in the game to lock down Visage completely.
  • Sange and Yasha - Provide decent stats, agility, strength, and physical damage. SnY also provides status resistance and increased movement speed, making Lifestealer faster and stronger against Visage.
  • Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for Visage and his familiars in an AoE. Lifestealer is an excellent pick against Visage due to the potential to decimate his armor within no time.

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Lifestealer 

5. Timbersaw

Visage can’t deal any damage to Timbersaw due to his massive reactive armor which ensures he is ignored during team fights. Apart from this, he is quite a dominating force against Visage as he is quite active right from the get-go with all his high magic damage skills. Timber can also prove to be annoying against the familiars who can easily be ripped apart with just a Chakram.

The laning stage is a witness to his menacing abilities, immense gap closing, and massive Pure damage output. If Timbersaw is put in a 1v1 matchup against Visage, the strength and damage disparity would be just too hot to handle for the latter, making him tap out. Visage can’t ignore the damage being dished out by Timber, making him the topmost priority in teamfights.

Why is Timbersaw a great counter to Visage?

  • Reactive Armor will quickly stack up from Familiar attacks, making Timbersaw hard to kill.
  • Visage entirely ignores Timbersaw in the late game as he knows he lacks the damage and the lockdown to kill him.
  • Visage lacks mobility which makes Timbersaw’s work easy to line up his abilities effortlessly.

Items to Buy on Timbersaw

  • Eul’s Scepter - Can be used to sweep yourself or the targetted enemy into the air for 2.5 seconds, making them unable to use spells or move. This can be used to lock down Visage or temporarily remove yourself from the fights, it dispels most debuffs upon self-cast.
  • Shiva’s Guard - Upon activation, it deals damage in an AoE, slowing down the affected targets. It also provides increased armor and reduces enemy armor in an AoE, which is highly essential against Visage.
  • Crimson Guard - Upon usage it provides immense physical damage block to both Timbersaw, his allies, and even buildings in an AoE.
  • Blade Mail - Reflects Visage’s damage upon activation.
  • Lotus Orb - Upon usage, it reflects targetted spells to the caster. Along with that, it can be used to dispel any enemy debuffs. It can hence be used to reflect or dispel both Grave Chill and Soul Assumption.

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Timbersaw 

4. Phoenix

Phoenix can fit the bill quite easily if you’re lacking a support or a healer hero against Visage. He can also deal AoE damage to Visage and his familiars, while also providing his allies with ample heals. Phoenix’s most important spell has to be the Fire Spirits, which reduces Visage’s movement speed as well as his attack speed, making him and his familiars useless in teamfights if used on time. The spirits can be prioritized and maxed first, which can be useful in the late game, where Visage may have the upper hand. 

Visage can decimate Phoenix’s egg in most scenarios, hence Pheonix players often maximize their other spells and later opt to use the ultimate only when they feel protected by their teammates. Also, there is minor mobility with Icarus Dive which can be used to escape if an Aghs Visage decides to gank you. Visage is often annoyed by heroes who deal with DPS and interrupt his attacks.

What makes Phoenix great against Visage?

  • Phoenix's Supernova cannot be damaged by Familiars.
  • In the early and mid-game, Sun Ray won't deal enough damage to be reduced by Gravekeeper's Cloak.
  • Once Sun Ray deals enough damage to protect Visage, a layer of Gravekeeper's Cloak is burnt every 0.2 seconds.

Items to buy on Phoenix

  • Spirit Vessel - Immense DPS and heal reduction to Visage when used
  • Heaven’s Halberd - Can disarm Visage, making him unable to attack for a few seconds
  • Shiva’s Guard - Upon activation, it deals damage in an AoE, slowing down the affected targets. It also provides increased armor and reduces enemy armor in an AoE, which is highly essential against Visage.
  • Aeon Disk - Saves him from getting burst quickly from Visage, and also applies a basic dispel.
  • Eul’s Scepter - Can be used to sweep yourself or the targetted enemy into the air for 2.5 seconds, making them unable to use spells or move. This can be used to lock down Visage or temporarily remove yourself from the fights, it dispels most debuffs upon self-cast.
  • Glimmer Cape- Glimmer Cape can be seen as a way of escaping Visage’s onslaught or aiding his allies in escaping as upon cast it turns Phoenix or the targetted ally invisible.

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Phoenix 

3. Tiny

Tiny the elemental stone wreaks havoc against most heroes this meta, and Visage is no exception! The latter is quite a passive laner and Tiny takes full advantage of that right from the get-go. Tiny can be played in multiple positions against Visage, due to the flexibility of his skill set. All Tiny needs is a Blink Dagger in the early game to mow down Visage, as he can follow it up with the Toss combo or Toss him to his allies who finish the job for him.

Although it can be difficult to carry this combo successfully in the late game due to the presence of Familiars or Aghanim’s Scepter invisibility, Tiny is much more reliant on his physical damage which is equally threatening in the later stages. A pesky and annoying Tiny can attempt to Toss Visage back into his allies or solo kill the vicious gargoyle in no time. Visage can’t match the damage or impact of the stone giant in the later stages of the game.

Why is Tiny a great counter to Visage?

  • Tiny's Avalanche removes a significant number of layers from Gravekeeper's Cloak. When combined with Toss burns through all of Gravekeeper's Cloak while doing triple-times Toss damage to Visage in midair.
  • Tiny's already high damage coupled with Tree Grab's attack modifier will make short work of Visage's Familiars.

Items to buy on Tiny

  • Blink Dagger - Great for gap closing or initiating, allows Tiny to both escape or get on top of Visage.   
  • Echo Sabre - It provides Tiny with insane stats along with increased damage and attack speed. It is an essential item that is built in the early game.
  • Shadow Blade - Provides invisibility which can be used to escape or set up on Visage. It can later be upgraded into Silver Edge which can disable the latter’s passive right after breaking invisibility.
  • Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for Visage if he is under the AoE. Since Visage has extreme amounts of armor, this item is highly useful in the game's later stages.
  • Daedalus - Provides a chance to deal immense critical damage on physical attacks as well as increase your base attack damage. It is an exceptional item to deal high damage to Visage and his familiars.
  • Aghanim’s Shard - Tree Grab has no charges, and can be used indefinitely unless you throw it on the targetted unit. This shard is extremely useful as you can cleave through the familiars in no time.
  • Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, negating all the slowness and damage being dealt by Visage.

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Tiny 

2. Kunkka

The Admiral almighty himself! Kunkka is known to be a great counter to the rarely picked Visage. He is an extremely tanky entity, and the boat buff makes it even worse for Visage to penetrate his armor.

All of Kunkka’s spells are extremely lethal, and ensure Visage doesn’t escape his clutches alive! Kunkka can deal some serious physical damage with the help of a few items which makes him ungodly in the mid and even late stages of the game. Visage can easily falter off and lose momentum if he falls prey to Kunkka once or twice in the game!

Why is Kunkka such a great hero against Visage?

  • Visage can be controlled with Torrent and X Marks the Spot, at quite all stages of the game because Visage generally does not purchase spell immunity items.
  • Visage also isn’t big on physical survivability items hence the physical damage coming from Kunkka can decimate him throughout the early game.
  • Ghostship's rum buff will greatly reduce the Visage’s damage output in teamfights, this includes his familiars as well

Items to buy on Kunkka

  • Daedalus - Provides a chance to deal immense critical damage on physical attacks as well as increase your base attack damage. It is an exceptional item to deal high damage to Visage, as well as a staple on Kunkka.
  • Assault Cuirass - Increases armor and attack speed while reducing the same for Visage if he is under the AoE. Since Visage has extreme amounts of armor, this item is highly useful in the game's later stages.
  • Armlet of Mordiggian - Provides Kunkka increased HP and damage, and is toggleable. He benefits highly from this toggleable HP mechanic against Visage who deals high damage with short intervals, leaving enough space to toggle.
  • Aghanim’s Scepter - Ghostship creates a fleet of ships that crash at the same spot, providing enough magical damage and control to decimate Visage.
  • Black King Bar - It provides spell immunity from all of Visage’s magic spells, making him invulnerable in the fight.

 https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Kunkka

1. Viper

Viper is also number one on the list when it comes to the most hated heroes in the game by Visage players. They simply can’t stand a chance against the venomous beast. Viper is a nuisance against Visage as he deals significantly higher damage and harassment to Viper in the laning phase. Most players can benefit largely from picking him against Visage as he deals a ton of magical damage which can also be used to remove the Gravekeeper’s Cloak, making it easy for him to go ballistic on Visage early on in the game. Even the familiars can be at risk with the help of Nethertoxin, as it is an AoE spell. Viper can also effectively counter-push against the Visage.

In the later stages of the game, Viper can make Visage disappear within no time due to his lethal DPS and magic damage. Since Visage has high armor due to his passive, Nethertoxin proves to be highly useful as it can break his passive and ensure he does not stand a chance in teamfights. Viper’s immense damage is hard to negate as Visage almost never likes going defensive items.

Why is Viper great against Visage? 

  • Viper is highly resistant to Soul Assumption due to Corrosive Skin.
  • Visage does not stand a chance against Nethertoxin and Viper Strike as they peel off all layers of Gravekeeper's Cloak.
  • Viper can kite Visage with Poison Attack, taking advantage of the latter’s slow movement speed.

Items to Buy on Viper

  • Kaya and Sange - Increases stats along with increasing mana gain and reducing mana cost, allowing him to cast spells freely against Visage.
  • Aghanim’s Scepter - Decreases Nethertoxin duration and increases damage, destroying the squishy Visage in no time. It is an extremely viable item as it disables Visage’s passive and mutes him at the same time
  • Pipe of Insight - Provides immense magic damage block on activation, and affects the whole team. 
  • Hurricane Pike - Allows Viper to close the gap and deal immense damage to Visage, also provides decent stats and increases attack range
  • Blademail - Reflects Visage’s damage to him upon activation
  • Black King Bar - Provides spell immunity, negating all the slowness and damage being dealt by Visage.

https://dota2.fandom.com/wiki/Viper

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After spending 11,352 hours, slaying Eldwurms and winning the mid lane, Sid is still awfully bad at Dota 2
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