Mid support-mage who phases through terrain to mark enemies and revives his team
SupportMageMid LaneDeals magic
Faramis is a mid-lane support-mage who phases through terrain with Shadow Stampede, damaging and marking every enemy he touches, then bursts them down with Ghost Bursters' bouncing fan. His identity anchors on Cult Altar, a zone that briefly resurrects any ally who dies inside it. Vicious Retrieval's soul fragments heal him and reduce his own respawn timer between fights.
Difficulty
Hard
Specialities
GuardCharge
Timing Cult Altar's resurrection window against the enemy's burst combo, and landing Shadow Stampede's mark on the right targets, requires strong fight-reading.
Beaten by
103 hard
Strong into
23
Best duos
10
Builds
2
At a glance
Damage
6 of 10
Durability
4 of 10
Crowd Control
5 of 10
Mobility
6 of 10
Utility
8 of 10
Rated against the whole roster, not against their own class.
When Faramis is strong
Attributes
Damage
6
Durability
4
Crowd Control
5
Mobility
6
Utility
8
Strengths
Cult Altar's specter state briefly resurrects any ally who dies inside it, turning a losing teamfight into a winning one if timed correctly.
Shadow Stampede lets him cross terrain at 70% extra Movement Speed with bonus defenses, damaging and marking every enemy hero he makes contact with.
Vicious Retrieval's soul fragments reduce his own respawn timer, letting him get back into a fight faster after a bad trade.
Ghost Bursters' bounce mechanic hits multiple enemies from a single cast, giving him strong poke and wave clear in the mid lane.
Weaknesses
Cult Altar has an 80-second cooldown; if it's down during a fight, his team loses its core comeback tool entirely.
Shadow Stampede only hits enemies he physically makes contact with, so anyone who sidesteps him during the 3-second shadow state takes nothing.
Squishy for a support-adjacent hero, with no personal escape besides the shadow state's terrain-crossing movement.
Damage output depends on landing Ghost Bursters' bounces on multiple targets; a single-target hit wastes much of its value.
Skills
Max Ghost Bursters first for the poke and wave clear, level Shadow Stampede second for the mark and the terrain-crossing speed, and take the ultimate at 4, 8 and 12.
Passive
Vicious Retrieval
Buff
Every 4 seconds, Faramis's next skill against enemy heroes and summoned objects generates a soul fragment on the spot. Faramis can absorb the soul fragment to restore 100 (+50% Total Magic Power) HP and gain 2 extra Magic Power (up to 40 stacks). Upon death, he consumes the absorbed soul fragments to reduce the respawn timer, each reducing the timer by 3% (up to 90%). Enemies that die around Faramis also have a chance to drop soul fragments.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
Always active — no cooldown
Skill 1
Shadow Stampede
BuffCC
Faramis enters the Shadow state for 3 seconds, gaining 70% extra Movement Speed, 25 extra Physical and Magic Defense, 20% cooldown reduction of this skill, and the ability to move through terrain. Enemy heroes that come into contact with Faramis in this state are dealt 250–400 (+60% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage and applied with a Nether Mark.
Our source cuts this description off mid-sentence — the rest is not shown.
Cooldown
15s
Mana
70 → 120
Skill 2
Ghost Bursters
AOEBurst
Faramis gathers Nether energy in a fan-shaped area ahead, dealing 330–480 (+144% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage to enemies within. The energy will then split and bounce to nearby enemies, dealing 200–300 (+72% Total Magic Power) Magic Damage (splits up to 2 times on enemy hero hits and 1 time on non-enemy hero hits).
Cooldown
6s
Mana
75 → 125
What the terms mean(1)
Magic Skill
Deal Magic DMG to enemies. Triggers Spell Vamp.
Ultimate
Cult Altar
Death ImmuneBuff
Faramis turns his surroundings into the Nether Realm for 6s, making affected allied hero (including himself) enter the Specter state and granting them 400–800 plus 10 (+5% Total Magic Power)% extra HP and 50% extra Movement Speed for 1s. When Specter state breaks, the hero will clear all debuffs and enter a brief Resurrection state for 1s. An allied hero's Specter state ends when they leave the Nether Realm.
Cooldown
80s
Mana
150 → 350
Signature combo
Shadow Stampede through terrain to damage and mark the enemies you pass through, then Ghost Bursters so the burst bounces between them, and Cult Altar the instant the fight fully commits.
Faramis builds
Core items in buy order, with the emblem, talents and battle spell that go with them.
Support Mage
7,620g total
Standard mid pick prioritizing Cult Altar's team-saving potential over pure damage.
The 'Flicker combo' — blinking in right as a hook or stun lands, or blinking out the instant an enemy ultimate is cast — is the single most common high-elo outplay moment in the game.
Swap in when needed
Athena's Shield — Against a burst assassin or mage looking to kill him before Cult Altar comes online.
Winter Crown — Buys a survival window if he's caught out before his ultimate is ready.
Glowing Wand — Anti-heal against a sustain-heavy enemy team.
Faramis Support Mage build: Magic Shoes, then Enchanted Talisman, then Holy Crystal, then Clock of Destiny.
Burst Mage
7,970g total
Into a lineup where prioritizing damage over the ultimate's utility is safe.
Unlike Purify, Sprint does nothing against stuns or roots already applied — it only prevents future slows and outruns melee threats, so it's best on heroes who aren't the primary CC target.
Swap in when needed
Divine Glaive — Against a team stacking magic defense once flat penetration alone isn't enough.
Winter Crown — Buys a survival window if he's caught out before his ultimate is ready.
Ice Queen Wand — Slows dashers trying to close the gap before his combo is back up.
Faramis Burst Mage build: Arcane Boots, then Lightning Truncheon, then Holy Crystal, then Genius Wand.
Who counters Faramis
The heroes that make this matchup hard, and the mechanic that does it.
Time Cult Altar for the moment your team is fully committed to a fight, not preemptively, since its value comes from the resurrection window during the actual exchange.
2
Use Shadow Stampede's terrain-crossing movement to flank before marking enemies, rather than walking straight through the front line.
3
Land Ghost Bursters on the enemy frontline so the bounce reaches backline targets standing behind them.
4
Absorb soul fragments during downtime between fights to stack bonus Magic Power before the next engagement.
Faramis — common questions
Is Faramis good for beginners?
Faramis is moderately difficult, since his skills themselves are simple to land, but timing Cult Altar's resurrection window against the enemy's burst combo takes real fight-reading experience.
What is the best build for Faramis?
The standard build opens with Enchanted Talisman for mana sustain and cooldown reduction, then Holy Crystal and Clock of Destiny for scaling magic power and survivability.
Which heroes counter Faramis?
Odette, Yin and Valentina are hard counters since they can kill his team or turn his own ultimate against him, while Estes, Floryn, Julian, Aulus, Edith, Bruno and Yve all pressure him through sustain or mobility.
What does Faramis's ultimate do?
Cult Altar turns his surroundings into the Nether Realm for 6 seconds, granting affected allies bonus HP and Movement Speed, and briefly resurrecting anyone who dies while inside it.
