cool and informative blog about supporting in both DotA and DotA2 ^^
I always enjoyed being a support/roamer myself. Making sure that the teams 1. carry had an easy time on lane farming up like a madman, as well as helping out both the other side lane and the mid lane for that nice level 6 ultimate kill with the mid hero.

Puppys roaming Earthshaker with a shit ton of clarities for that early gank with fissure would always make for some fun early games ^^

pnSTYLE

Germany3 Posts

October 31 2011 14:43 GMT

#62

Interesting read. After the gamescom reveal and and especially after watching so many streams I now realize how boring League of Legends is and I lost the motivation to play it anymore. When I will get a Dota 2 key sometime I will definitely use your advices. Looking forward to you future blogs.

DucK-

Singapore11446 Posts

October 31 2011 14:49 GMT

#63

On October 31 2011 23:42 NDPoNyBoY wrote:
When im in a position where i have to play a support for my team, I love going wards first veno. You grab the one level of gale at level 1 for ganks, and can just roam and gank with it very easily. When mid game comes, when ever you feel that a tower will be pushed just set up the defences with your wards and it will give the opponents a very hard time. If you get to the point you farm an sceptre you end up having a very game changing ultimate, when in combo with one such as tidehunter it can literally decimate an entire team.
In pubs this hero can also be played as a very strong semi carry, as his base attack can become something that is very strong in combination with his passive poison.
The best part about this hero though, is in dota1 he has the same model as everyones favourite hydralisk! Even the dota2 equivalent you can see the resemblance!

Wards first should be the way to play Veno, solo as support. It allows him to jungle/ancient later on, and contribute to (counter)pushes. Playing Veno as DPS early on is the wrong way imo. My build is usually Gale Sting Ward Ward Ward Ulti Ward.

simpler

Sweden49 Posts

October 31 2011 14:52 GMT

#64

I want a DotA2 key because of the girls!

LiamTheZerg

United States523 Posts

October 31 2011 14:54 GMT

#65

I really like all the work you've been doing on TL for a section that's mostly just questions about the Beta and tournys, its really helpful, espec for those that haven't played. What's even better is the good pics in the guide, pics make it like 10x better.

Good luck to all for the key, @Bumblebee, who's your favorite support? I think SK is definitely one of the best with his stun/initiator, hide in sandstorm, and his ulti.

entranced

United States5 Posts

October 31 2011 14:54 GMT

#66

i've been a bit of a lurker on tl for a while now, but I suppose this is good incentive for a first post

nice write up and interesting read, it's good to see another person's insight on support, people really need to realize that it's not as easy as some say it is.

Xinder

United States2269 Posts

October 31 2011 14:54 GMT

#67

@Bumblebee/anyone else who cares to comment. I played DotA a long time ago w/ my friend and we stomped some faces in -arem and -apem which i now realize are for nubs lol.

However, I played LoL for a while and enjoyed support and in ranked games you had people who would work on picking a good team comp. As i don't know what DotA 2's system is like my question is "Do they have something similar where you can communicate with your team?" I ask because I would enjoy picking support from day 1 even in unranked games to get the most time learning how to play one effectively. I'm drawn to the support role for liking to help but also because of some of the heroes that are pegged as support. AA, Lich, CM all have neat skill sets that appeal to me.

Also if I win your beta key I will be sure to practice up on my support skills and be the best supporter I can!

traumaplay

11 Posts

October 31 2011 14:56 GMT

#68

Alright, I just broke my accountless lurking for this one chance at a key.

Shame on me

On topic though, there's one thing I don't get - Why would enchantress be considered "hard" to play? Her heal gives her a way to make up for any heavy harassment, and none of her skills are all that pivotal on exact positioning (like Black Hole) or intricate timing/judgement (Holy Persuasion / Ice Blast). A player simply needs to know how to draw the line between lane harassment and risky overextension to stay safe, and get one or two proper wards to make sure jungling isn't dangerous.

Or am I missing something entirely here o_O

Bumblebee

3237 Posts

October 31 2011 15:00 GMT

#69

On October 31 2011 23:54 LiamTheZerg wrote:Good luck to all for the key, @Bumblebee, who's your favorite support? I think SK is definitely one of the best with his stun/initiator, hide in sandstorm, and his ulti.

Hmm... I don't know really. Maybe Windrunner even though it's one of my bad heroes. Lich is also great fun.

ChronoCat

266 Posts

October 31 2011 15:00 GMT

#70

Good read, but I don't think you should categorize the heroes based on difficulty, since it's completely subjective. Some might argue that heroes like ES are actually difficult to use, simply because he's a melee hero and getting proper stuns require some practice and experience, or you could end up hurting your teammates more than anything else, whereas a hero like Veno are relatively easy (at least from a beginner's standpoint) to use, simply because his skills are very straightforward and simple to use.

That's, of course, my own opinion. I'm not even sure what you're basing the difficulty of each hero on, but generally speaking, it's completely subjective and player-dependent. You could perhaps suggest some easy-to-use heroes for new players to try out (vengeful spirit and lion come to mind), but going so far as to categorize the "difficulty" of every support hero could end up pretty misleading.

zeru

8156 Posts

October 31 2011 15:00 GMT

#71

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Bumblebee

3237 Posts

October 31 2011 15:00 GMT

#72

On October 31 2011 23:56 traumaplay wrote:
Alright, I just broke my accountless lurking for this one chance at a key.

Shame on me

I kinda agree that Enchantress might be a bit easier. But I think many new people would do bad things to themselves and tame too many creeps and ruin their farm/experience a lot in the jungle.

And what the guy above me said too. :-)

Dattish

Sweden6297 Posts

October 31 2011 15:02 GMT

#73

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Akasha

United States261 Posts

October 31 2011 15:02 GMT

#74

Very nice breakdown of how to play a support hero and what to buy. I'm interested in DoTA 2 and I'm coming from LoL so having these types of guides that are easy to digest are great for a player like me.

Please keep them coming

LeoLeo

Sweden456 Posts

October 31 2011 15:03 GMT

#75

How are CM and ES "easy" they require so much finesse and knowledge, if you ever are out of position as CM you are dead sooooo easily.

Although at a veryyy noobish level i agree with you... To some extent. :3

Vansetsu

United States1452 Posts

October 31 2011 15:04 GMT

#76

I think this is a good general guideline. Without going off on specific tangents for specific heroes/roles, I think maybe mentioning creep stacking/pulling would be useful as well, as it allows you to dictate the flow of the lane, and potentially "power" a specific hero when they have a bfury or an aoe allowing them to cash in on the exp/gold quickly.

GoGo beta key!

Aelip

Denmark321 Posts

October 31 2011 15:05 GMT

#77

Great guide, only comment i have is i'd prolly have added a map with ward placements. As in, just a map showing the generally good places to ward, like outside rosh and so on.

brachester

Australia1786 Posts

October 31 2011 15:07 GMT

#78

why are there so many intelligence heroes?