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i disagree with the nonstop warding done by one hero alone. you are useless later on and die like paper if you spend 2k on wards alone. that, combined with the usual flaming that comes along "omg no items noob", makes for a very unpleasant game experience.
however, after having read multiple "guides" over the years, basicly everyone advocates the "spend everything you have on wards", you must be either very skilled to not eat the first damage chunk of a beginning teamfight (and thus getting instagibbed), or very lucky (as some even go that far to tell you if you have more than boots after 30 mins ingame with maiden, you're doing it wrong).
hence: do split up the costs on multiple heroes, even let the carry buy a set. guess disagreeing doesnt make me look good for winning ay ? :p
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On November 01 2011 00:46 AwfulPlayer wrote:
i disagree with the nonstop warding done by one hero alone. you are useless later on and die like paper if you spend 2k on wards alone. that, combined with the usual flaming that comes along "omg no items noob", makes for a very unpleasant game experience.
however, after having read multiple "guides" over the years, basicly everyone advocates the "spend everything you have on wards", you must be either very skilled to not eat the first damage chunk of a beginning teamfight (and thus getting instagibbed), or very lucky (as some even go that far to tell you if you have more than boots after 30 mins ingame with maiden, you're doing it wrong).
hence: do split up the costs on multiple heroes, even let the carry buy a set. guess disagreeing doesnt make me look good for winning ay ? :p
Your carry should never be forced to buy wards. But yeah, you shouldn't spend every single cent on wards. It's more about finding a even balance between playing to win and playing for fun. It's usually not fun to be the wardbitch going 1-14 every game. But you're not going to win the game if you're playing CM farming in lane until you have BKB+Blink.
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Nice read, although i would like to read a further explanation on why you consider AA a hard to play supporter. I would rather put him in the easy - mid section and mid only because you can do some nice skillshots with his ulti.
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What do you think of Mirana as a support? Her leap would massively help with mobility to ward better and to get out of oh shit moments or deny runes or what have you, and her possible insanely long 4 second stun if you get lucky can be a silly strong help too.
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On November 01 2011 01:01 Shalaiyn wrote:
What do you think of Mirana as a support? Her leap would massively help with mobility to ward better and to get out of oh shit moments or deny runes or what have you, and her possible insanely long 4 second stun if you get lucky can be a silly strong help too.
She fills a similar role to Windrunner. Both are extremely versatile and can be played as semi-carries. They're both better at soloing an off-lane in my opinion though because of the strong escape moves/farming potential that lets them scrape out farm even against usually unfavorable laning situations (Trilanes, long lanes, etc). Mirana scales well into the lategame however, since she's agility and starfall lets her farm very well, so I don't think playing her as a dedicated support is the best idea.
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On November 01 2011 00:46 AwfulPlayer wrote:
i disagree with the nonstop warding done by one hero alone. you are useless later on and die like paper if you spend 2k on wards alone. that, combined with the usual flaming that comes along "omg no items noob", makes for a very unpleasant game experience.
however, after having read multiple "guides" over the years, basicly everyone advocates the "spend everything you have on wards", you must be either very skilled to not eat the first damage chunk of a beginning teamfight (and thus getting instagibbed), or very lucky (as some even go that far to tell you if you have more than boots after 30 mins ingame with maiden, you're doing it wrong).
hence: do split up the costs on multiple heroes, even let the carry buy a set. guess disagreeing doesnt make me look good for winning ay ? :p
Namely because you are terribly wrong. Splitting costs up when there's no need to. As for dying in a team fight, generally you should have enough HP to survive the general AoE (or some alternative means). There is no luck involved, players don't get special bonuses to heroes based on who's playing them. If you get focused down, so be it, but that death shouldn't be a free death.
Basically playing support is recognizing what you need to do to put your team in a winning position, they do all the things that lead up to a win without actually winning the game.
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Tidehunter is a support? he always seemed so much stronger to me. then again i dont know much since i got sucked into Hon and i really want a chance to get to know the beta a bit more 
Great blogs :D
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First of all, nice writeup
On October 31 2011 23:16 Midas_ wrote:
Overall a very nice and short guide about some basics of playing a support hero.
Maybe a little more detailed stuff:
-If you play a hardcore babysitter pick up some more healthpots instead of clarities.
-Buy your Solomid hero an extra healing pot at the beginning (especially if you already know that he is up against a strong sololaner)
-If you have the gold buy a TP for your carry, when he was killed or went back to heal.
Some Trilane basics:
If you play trilane (Carry + 2 Supports)
-Don't steal gold from your carry - ever, focus only on denying / harassing the enemy.
-If your carry has an easy time stay out of his exp range. (go for a gank or creeppull)
-Doublepull neutrals and get some farm/exp and even deny a chunk of exp from the enemy.
As some people already said I think Earthshaker is not an easy hero to play especially for beginners. Positioning with him is crucial and with a wrong placed fissure you can fuck up your team.
My favorite Supporthero by far is Dazzle because he's just awesome to play and you feel like a boss when you save someone with shallow grave. =D
Some comments to this post related to trilane basics.
- Staying out of exp range from the carry is actually often a bad idea. Most hard carries are more dependant on farm and items than levels. Supports being underleveled would usually be a more critical problem than well farmed carries having 1 level less. Secondly, as it's during laning phase you would want at least a few of the first levels on your supports, so when the situation changes you're able to adapt. Both in relation to deciding to push the tower, being forced to go for a kill/keep enemy out of exp behind tower. (3 v 1 and lane pushes)
- Double (and single) pulling is a great thing, however it not just be done blindly as soon as possible. Im mainly talking with respect to trilaning safelane, where there is a number of things to consider. Is the lane pushing? Can the enemy be kept from exp? Do we have the level to kill him at tower? Is it worth pushing the tower, or letting him stay level 1? Double pulling is often used to deny entire creep waves, whereas single pulls are used to start pushes. Besides the obvious exp and gold gains of course. Just wanting to point out that there is more to the subject than what one might think.
In relation to the OP
I just want to mention a few aspects a support should do or at least consider. As with pretty much every aspect it's always dependant on the game.
1. Staying out of sight is a valuable skill toi have.
This makes you 'miss', and lead to uncertainty on the opposing team, as well as helping you not being ganked. When hiding you need to consider if you are standing within reach to help you ally, if you could possibly be seen by a ward and such.
2. The minimap
Look at it. All the time, just like SC. As support you are often in a position where the imediate situation doesn't aquire as much attention as it does to lasthit properly, or being on a solo lane. At least in team games with good communication (this is what I'm used to) it's not wrong to call misses from all the lanes, and recite who's missing, who should be carefull, and 'pinging' where the enemy are.
3. Runes
Check the runes - sometimes (coordinate with your mid lane player). If the lane is passive and you feel the enemy won't be able to gain too much from you temporary absence. Don't do this blindly, and pay attention to if the enemy is checking the rune as well. Don't go to a rune with a level 3 CM if a lvl 6 enemy Lion is going as well.
4. Creep pulling
As I mentioned briefly there is many purposes of this. Do it wisely (a lot of experience is required here). If you think if pulling/stacking pay attention to the time, and threathen the lane as long as possibly, without being too late to do your task. If you're hiding, of course, then it shouldn't be a problem to hit the timing.
Concerning item builds
As some have already mentioned there is a few other items that supports might consider going for.
- Janggo (Drum of endurrance or w/e the Dota2 name is?)
- Medallion
- Vlads
- Vanguard
- Hood/planewalkers cloak
- Bracers
- Soulring (very situational)
- Ghost scepter (situational)
- Veil of discord
One of the points with many of the items supports usually get, is that they require no or few 'big' items, and can be made gradually. Getting a bracer for Drum gives you hp, etc.
Often, supports would go for hp items with 'spare' gold, like Str-Treads, Bracers, Vanguard. Supports getting so beefy that they enemy carries can't 'just' kill them can have quite a huge impact on a game.
In regard to the above, it's my personal experience that movespeed and items for positioning sometimes is preferable over general survival items. Position is always important, and so is getting around the map. The supports often dies when caught, independantly if they have 1400 hp or 1100. Getting away/staying out of range is sometimes more usefull. My standard build ('big' items) on CM is phaseboots and Drum, mainly for the movespeed. Inexperienced players should probably be carefull with neglecting HP items though.
Regarding wards and support-items (dust, smoke etc.)
Don't be affraid to ask the farming players to buy some of the items. YES, it is your main purpose, but no-boots after 20 min is not very desireable. Might be difficult to get though in a 'pub' or less organized game though, and is mainly for team games.
Also, getting heroes with sufficient survivabilty to place certain wards sometimes is often smart as well. Like letting Furion/Natures Prophet TP behind enemy lines and put an offensive ward, or letting puck with dagger go 'deep' into the jungle rather than squishy CM or vengefull.
Starting items
I agree with your item builds fully- but say you're gonna roam mainly. More regen and less stats can sometimes be better. If you're certain you'll get a farming 3-lane vs a defensive solo (who won't get exp initially) buying a lot of regen is often a waste. Be carefull here though, as you don't want to enter a 3v3 laning situation with too little regeneration.
Ugh, I think that was it. Just what I got on my mind when I read through the blog and the comments
Great job with the blog.
EDIT: Gahh, feel like doing a thorough 3-lane guide, but I don't have the time at the moment, and I'm also a little out of touch with Dota2. Maybe someday x_x
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On November 01 2011 00:46 AwfulPlayer wrote:
i disagree with the nonstop warding done by one hero alone. you are useless later on and die like paper if you spend 2k on wards alone. that, combined with the usual flaming that comes along "omg no items noob", makes for a very unpleasant game experience.
however, after having read multiple "guides" over the years, basicly everyone advocates the "spend everything you have on wards", you must be either very skilled to not eat the first damage chunk of a beginning teamfight (and thus getting instagibbed), or very lucky (as some even go that far to tell you if you have more than boots after 30 mins ingame with maiden, you're doing it wrong).
hence: do split up the costs on multiple heroes, even let the carry buy a set. guess disagreeing doesnt make me look good for winning ay ? :p
Nope you shouldn't split cost. They should be bought by the 4 or 5. Actually, if you have just boots after 30mins with CM, you are doing it wrong, very wrong. A support always buys the wards, because they can perform very well with MINIMAL, and not ZERO items. Basically, all the 5 needs is Boots, Wand, TP early game. Later on, They should have at the very least a Bracer or 2 and maybe a Cloak. It is not uncommon to see them having Urn/Jango/Medallion/Basilus/Treads/PointBooster later on in a good game.
In pubs, nobody takes the initiative to buy wards. Sometimes when I carry, I buy wards just to guard myself.
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i would love a key <3 mr awesomo
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mekansm still looks like a croissant no matter how much i try to decipher it, maybe supports feed everyone around them for the heal
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Great read :D
Altho I think you should've considered giving jungling heroes a bit more words. The difference between an Enigma in the jungle (maybe even offensive jungling) compared to a passive venge or CM that babysits all game is quite big. You did make it clear in the easy vs hard support heroes to play, but I thought it would be nice to describe it in more detail.
Also would've liked a seperate chapter just on warding, but maybe the subject is so big it requires an entire blog post on its own :D
Good work writing all this!
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Yay!, Thanks for doing these giveaways for people like me who stalk every possible dota 2 beta key giveaway. I am very grateful and good luck everyone!.
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You're really awesome for giving away Beta Keys. <3
I would love one since I have a lot of time off now and I'm a big DotA/HoN fan.
Thanks for everything you are doing for the community with these blogs and your stream!
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another good read
reminds me of the difference between public gaming and playing "real" games again. as for the last 2 or 3 years since leaving dota and heading to wow and after that hon/lol, ive missed the serious games as i cant find myself playing any competitive until early next year.
always good to keep track of the moba games development, in all 3 of them. watching several streams in the evening gives good insight
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Curious as to why Enigma is listed as a hard support to play. Is it just because you have to know how to jungle?
I think he should be switched with ES. Correctly playing Earthshaker is much harder than with Enigma.
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Bosnia-Herzegovina2 Posts
I dont think that the Crystal maiden is that easy to play, Id put it somewhere up at the medium/high cattegory as it just fits there more. Ive seen several people fail with it...
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On November 01 2011 02:40 Uesugi. wrote:
I dont think that the Crystal maiden is that easy to play, Id put it somewhere up at the medium/high cattegory as it just fits there more. Ive seen several people fail with it...
You would have to be pretty bad to fail as CM... As long as you actually cast your frost bite to disable carries/channeling spells and nova on running enemies your good and level up brilliance aura fast...
But I guess where most people fail with CM is the low MS and the super squishyness. Most people over extend early game and get chased down super easy, well in pubs anyway.
I like to rush bracerx2 on CM just to stay alive lol... Or grab a point booster if you get a nice farm run.
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I have always felt like gank/initiate (like an ES, SK, Sven) is sort of its own category which differs from semi-carry/gank (Lina, Mirana). Like, Lina Veno and WR in this group of heroes is quite different than a VS Lion SK ES
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EPT
