DotA 2 Guide : Support Heroes

 Nobody likes to play support, yet everbody likes to win - Bastion

In DotA2, there are basically 2 types of heroes : Carries and Supports. Carries are the heroes that have tremendous damage and can easily wipe out the other teams heroes. Supports on the other hand are the ones that help the carries eliminate the other team; be it their skills, their items or their actions. These heroes usually rely on spells ranging from disables, AoEs, damage spells, etc. These skills usually do not affect the enemy heroes anymore in the endgame.



So why pick a support hero?


As one of the Announcers in DotA 2 says, " Everybody likes to win, but no one likes to play support." which is quite true in everyday DotA 2 gaming. Everybody wants to get those kills. Its hard to find someone who will play support. So why don't you deviate from the usual and play support. A good support can easily change the complexion of a game.
 


What is a Support?

Support : give assistance to; enable to function or act.

Supports are heroes whose purpose is to keep their allies alive and give them opportunities to earn more gold and experience. Supports will usually come with skills, such as healing spells or skills that disable enemies; and generally have low damage output (but often with a powerful-yet-situational ultimate). Supports are not dependent on items, and thus, much of their gold will be spent on items for the benefit of the team such as Animal Courier, Observer Ward, Sentry Ward, and Smoke of Deceit, Gem of True Sight, etc..



Which Support do I pick?

Most heroes eligible for being played as a support are intelligence based. There are, however, good supports available in both the strength and the agility tree as well. If you play all pick, you should make your choice dependent on what your and the enemy team has already picked. Did they pick 4 melee heroes? Disruptor will be able to shut down many if not all of them with one well-placed Kinetic Field. Is there a Clockwerk or Faceless Void on your side? Skywrath Mage’s ultimate will synergize extremely well with their skills. Did they pick a Nyx Assassin? Maybe it’s better this game to not pick a squishy intelligence hero and instead go for an Earthshaker or Vengeful Spirit.
The important part is that you do not just blindly pick a hero that you want to play, but instead keep in mind what other players have picked and make the best decision based on what will be good in this scenario.

The important part is that you do not just blindly pick a hero that you want to play, but instead keep in mind what other players have picked and make the best decision based on what will be good in this scenario.


What Items do I buy at the Start of the Game?

As a support, it is your responsibility to buy all the items that will benefit your team and not just yourself. If you have another support hero on your team, make sure you will have a set of sentry and observer wards, as well as a courier up and running. Talk among yourselves who will buy what. If you are the lone support, buy a courier, observer wards, tangos, a healing potion and a clarity (skip the clarity if you have a skill that provides mana, for example as Crystal Maiden or Lion). In most cases you will not even need all the tangos or healing potion for yourself, but it is always awesome to share them with your lane partner if they took a lot of damage. This will usually be the case if your lane partner is a melee carry and is getting constantly harassed by ranged heroes or if the enemy team tried to gank your lane.
Even if you do not get a single last hit and had 0 gold when the game started, you will have enough money to upgrade the courier at 3:00 just by the constant gold you gain per second. You should always upgrade the courier ASAP.


Common Support Items

Force Staff
can be used on yourself, teammates and enemy heroes.
used to set up the opposite team, escape and cancel channeling skills.

Blink Dagger
used to Set up opposite team and escape(cannot be used once hit by a non friendly unit)

Mekansm
grants heal to and armor to all enemy units in an area.

Pipe of Insight
gives nearby allied units a shield that blocks up to 400 spell damage

Arcane Boots
grants mana regen in area around hero

Eul’s Scepter of Divinity
used for great mana regen, to disable enemy heroes, and to cancel channeling spells

Orchid Malevolence
silences a target enemy hero

Scythe of Vise
used to set up enemy hero, cancels channeling spells, Destroys illusions.

Dust of Appearance
used to reveal invisible enemy units in an area.

Smoke of Deceit
used to setup enemy heroes, turns all nearby allied units invisible to enemy units

Boots of Travel
teleport to any allied non hero unit or structure


Skills needed for using support heroes


Creep Pulling

This is actually a skill everyone should learn. Creep pulling is the act of hitting neutral creeps at the right time so that your creeps will be lured to the neutral creep camp. This grants additional experience especially if you are laned with another hero.

Warding
This is one the most important skills that a support hero must possess. Warding is the key against enemy ganking and is key in setting up the opposing team for mass slaughter.

Here are some of the most common ward spots in the map for beginner support players:

Positioning


Support heroes usually have low HP and move speed  slow and rarely have escape skills. Being on the right spot in team fights is one of the important skills to master to ensure both your own survival as well as making the enemy team try to engage on tanks(STR heroes) and blowing their skills on heroes who are much better suited for surviving the first wave of damage(basically the hitters/carries.) Generally, you want to stand on the back or side of a fight, in range for your spells to hit but avoiding getting hit with enemy spells. Unless you’re an intiator, save your disables to help team mates. Silence their nukers, stun their carries, force staff one of your team mates who has low HP to safety; or force staff one of their ranged heroes into your team’s melee range. Make sure to never stand close to one of your teammates. AoE stuns and nukes are more effective if they actually hit more than one target. Don’t wastefully use your ultimate skills. Team fights can be overwhelming, but always try to keep your cool and be a good support to your team.