Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Team Ideas: Wombo Combos

Lockdown and big delayed damage

Note: Most of these team compositions require you to ban Silencer, and possibly also Naga Siren, as they rely on combinations of sequential ultimates. Rubick and Pugna can also be good bans, depending on how annoying you think they'll be (definitely ban Rubick vs. Enigma!)

#1: 
Offlane: Elder Titan
Mid:  Gyro or Leshrac
Jungle:  Enigma
Safe Lane:  Luna + Sand King / Earthshaker
Combo:  Uses ET/Enigma/Shaker/SK for AOE lockdown, followed by Calldown/Nova + Earthsplitter

#2:
Offlane:  Magnus
Mid:  Kunkka
Safe Lane:  Jakiro + Witch Doctor + Sven
Combo:   Reverse Polarity intiation, extending the lockdown with Storm Hammer and Ice Path.  Followup damage from Ghost Ship, Death Ward and Macropyre.
Caveat:  A partial combo may be preferable, so you don't keep having to wait for ultimates to come off cooldown.  Storm Bolt into Ice Path + Death Ward may be enough to win the fight, for example.

#3:
Offlane: Tidehunter
Mid: Invoker
Safe Lane:  Warlock + Earthshaker + Kunkka
Full Combo:  Ravage or Chaos Offering into Echo Slam/Fissure + Ghost Ship + Chaos Meteor/EMP
Note:  Warlock is actually one of the key ingredients to this combo, using Upheaval.  It really works well if you can slow a good chunk of the enemy team.

#4:  Physical Dmg Spell Combo
Offlane: Elder Titan
Mid:  Death Prophet
Safe:  Warlock (or Witch Doctor) + Earthshaker + Medusa

#5:
Offlane:  Phoenix
Mid: Puck
Safe:  CM + Silencer + Lifestealer
Combo:  Dream Coil + Infest + Blizzard + Supernova.  Global Silence prevents stuns on CM while she channels.  Phoenix should try to land a Fire Spirit onto the highest-speed enemy right-clickers.

#6:
Safelane Solo: Death Prophet
Mid:  Magnus
Aggro Tri:  Luna + Visage + Sand King
Combo:  RP or Burrowstrike + Familiar Stuns + Epi/Eclipse/Ghosts There are enough big ults with these heroes that you can teamfight twice as often and only need half your ultimates each time.

#7:
Offlane:  Beastmaster
Mid:  Shadowfiend
Safe Tri-Lane:  Kunkka + Wraith King + Disruptor
Combo:  WK or Beastmaster stun + Static/Kinetic Field + Ghost Ship + SF Razes/Ult
Can be combined with the Wraith King Sucker Punch.

#8:
Offlane:  Dark Seer
Mid:  Sven/Warlock/Kunkka
Jungle:  Enigma
Safe:  Gyrocopter +  Elder Titan
Combo:  Vacuum into Black Hole into Calldown+Earthsplitter++


#9:
Warlock mid
Gyro + Phoenix/Sandking + Witch Doctor
Elder Titan solo offlane
Combo:  Golem + Echo Stomp, Channel Upheaval, Call Down, Supernova/Epi + Death Ward, Earthsplitter


#10:
Puck mid
Elder Titan Solo Offlane
Kunkka + Phoenix + Disruptor
Combo:  Puck Dream Coil into Kinetic Field + Static Field, Ghost Ship, Earthsplitter, Supernova
Ban:  Silencer, Rubick, Naga, Weaver/Slark/Mirana/Spectre (mobile carries)

#11:  High damage teamfight ults
Witch Doctor + Veno + Gyro safelane
Elder Titan solo offlane
Puck mid

#12:
Warlock + Disruptor + Gyro
Jakiro mid
Dark Seer solo offlane

#13:
Crystal Maiden + Juggernaut
Enigma Jungle
Invoker mid
Timbersaw solo offlane

#14:
Sven (Safe carry)
Magnus (mid)
Clockwerk (Flare for vision for RP), or Timbersaw (Chakram during RP)
Venomancer (support)
Disruptor (support)

#15:
Gyro + Warlock + Disruptor
Dark Seer offlane
Magnus Mid

#16:
Sven + gyro (support) + venomancer (support)
Timbersaw offlane
QoP mid

#17:
Safelane: Sven + gyro (support) + venge (support)
Or : Aggro tri = Gyro + Visage + Disruptor
Doom solo
Sfiend mid
Ban:  silencer


#18:
Zeus mid
Gyro + Silencer (Aghs) + Warlock
NP offlane
Combo:  Fatal Bonds + Zeus/NP alts + Flak/Calldown + Global Silence (w/Curse)
Ban:  Nyx, Spiritbreaker (gankers)

#19: "Unavoidable Combo"
Zeus mid (Aghs)
Spectre + Silencer (Aghs) + Warlock
NP Offlane
Combo:  Haunt + Zeus Ult + Silencer Ult + NP ult.  Guaranteed damage - might even kill some supports outright.

#20: Skillshot Team:
Pudge + Mirana + Clock (aggro tri)
AA (mid)
Invoker (E) – safe solo

#21: Area Lockdown & AOE
Gyro + Kunkka + KotL (aggro tri)
Puck solo safe
Warlock mid

#22: Channel Max (enemy team must choose which to interrupt!)
CM/KotL + Jakiro/SandKing + Void
Witch Doctor
Enigma/Phoenix offlane

#23: Void Solo Offlane ++
Void solo offlane
Greedy support:  Sand King, Earth Spirit, Kunkka, Elder Titan, AA?
Mids: Leshrac, Phoenix, Death Prophet, Invoker, Magnus
Hard Support;  WD, Lich, Jakiro, CM, Disruptor

Safe:  Gyro, Luna, Medusa, Sniper?

#24:   Wombo AOE
Disruptor, Enigma, Dark Seer, Gyro, Warlock
Dark Seer Solo offlane
Enigma Jungle
Warlock Mid
Gyro + Disruptor safelane

#25:  AOE Stun + Delayed AOE
Kunkka + Tide + Warlock
Gyro

Dark Seer

Hero Build: Visage Position 4 (Greedy Support)

Visage is a hero most known for his aggressive tri-laning and he excels in teamfights, especially prolonged ones.  However, as a support, he lacks a true disable other than dropping his familiars on enemies, and starts out quite squishy (due to his negative armor).  His abilities also cost a ton of mana to use, even though they have a good range and are otherwise spammable.

Visage Item Build (tri-lane):

Start (625):  Courier, Tango, Magic Stick, Clarity x 3
Early:  Boots, Stick, TP
Core:  Power Treads, Medallion, Wand, TP
Low Luxury: Drums, Force Staff, Platemail, Point Booster
High Luxury:  Shiva's, Scythe, Agh's, AC
Situational:  Pipe, Vlad's, Gem

Item Build Notes:
  • Some people would prefer a Ring of Protection for Visage, but with the later pickup of Medallion, I feel that someone else could get the Basilius, which would benefit the team more (and Visage would still get the armor aura).
  • Power Treads can be swapped for Arcane Boots if you don't have another support picking up a pair.  Treads are preferred to make Visage tankier (set them to Strength).  Phase Boots aren't a bad choice for the speed boost, but the damage doesn't provide as much benefit to the team.
  • Don't hesitate to pick up a Pipe, Vlad's or Gem on Visage.  All of these benefit the team greatly.
  • 'Casual' Platemail and Point Booster are both great pickups, even if you don't finish a larger item.
  • Visage (and his familiars) are very position-dependent, so a Force Staff can be of great use.


Visage Ability Build:
L1 - Soul Assumption (or GraveChill for defensive tri)
L2 - Grave Chill
L3 - Gravekeeper's Cloak
L4 - Soul Assumption
L5 - Soul Assumption
L6 - Familiars
L7 - Soul Assumption (maxed)
L8 - Cloak
L9 - Cloak
L10 - Cloak (maxed)
L11 - Familiars
L12 - Grave (or stats)
L13 - Grave (or stats)
L14 - Grave (maxed, or stats)
L15 - Stats
L16 - Familiars
L17+ - Stats

Ability Build Notes:
  • Despite Grave Chill's attraction for right-clicking, the bonus is static, and the duration does not increase rapidly, making me favour earlier levels of Cloak, for staying alive longer to spam Soul Assumption more often.
  • An early level of Grave Chill is taken for the slow, to secure kills or aid escapes.
  • Cloak is mainly a deterrent against being focused first, and to mitigate AOE damage and the occasional pot-shot.  It is NOT something you can use to tank for your team, because its layers will fall off rapidly, and leave you squishy once again.
  • Unless your team needs a really long slow (as in, you have melee carries that are getting kited), consider skipping Grave past level 1 and get Stats from levels 12 to 14 instead.

Hero Build: Crystal Maiden (Position 5 - Hard Support)

I was looking on the dota2gamepedia, and I didn't really like the way the item suggestions for Crystal Maiden (CM) were laid out.  Here's my take on Crystal Maiden support, which allows you to roam or lane, and has a few early points in her mana-regen aura, to support the rest of your team.



Crystal Maiden by Zrog (Position 5):
Start (590):  Courier, Tangos (give 1-2 to mid), Clarity (to be annoying), Health Pot, 3 Branches
Early:  Boots, Wand, TP, Wards
Core:  Tranq Boots, Wand, Bracer, TP, Wards, Dust
Low Luxury:  Eul’s, Ghost Scepter, Force Staff, Shadow Amulet, Blink Dagger
High Luxury:  BKB, Scythe, Agh’s, BoT
Situational:  Medallion, Urn, Drums, Vlad’s, Veil

Item Notes:
  • You want an early Teleport Scroll (TP) to save teammates if they get tower-dived, or to counter-gank
  • I made two sections of Luxury items, because in some games, if you're doing your warding/de-warding and other support duties, you aren't going to EVER have gold for the bigger items.  Instead of saving for something you'll never get, go for a low-luxury item.
  • Some builds advocate a Gauntlet instead of three Branches, to free up inventory space, or to get a very early Urn.  However, given that you're going to want a Wand anyway, I would always prefer three Branches over a Gauntlet, for the extra stats.  IMO, if you really need the inventory space, skip one of the Branches.
Ability Build:
L1 - Frostbite
L2 - Crystal Nova
L3 - Arcane Aura
L4 - Crystal Nova
L5 - Arcane Aura (you ARE a support, after all)
L6 - Blizzard (yes, at L6 - it's better now)
L7 - Crystal Nova
L8 - Crystal Nova (maxed)
L9 - Frostbite
L10 - Frostbite
L11 - Blizzard
L12 - Frostbite (maxed)
L13 - Arcane Aura
L14 - Arcane Aura (maxed)
L15 - Stats
L16 - Blizzard
L17+ Stats

Notes:  

  • Versus Blink-carries, level Frostbite over Nova.
  • For Level-1 teamfights, Nova is better than Frostbite because of the AOE and attack slow.
  • Crystal Maiden is awesome in teamfights if there's no one to interrupt her ultimate.  She is similar to Witch Doctor in this respect, although unfortunately she's less tanky.
Good Combos with Maiden:
  • Strength carries with small mana pools and good early nukes (Sven, WK, Tiny, etc)
  • Secondary Stunners (Lesh/Lina/Jakiro)
  • Melee Stunners (Slardar, Centaur, Ursa, etc)
  • AOE lockdown heroes (Magnus, Enigma, Disruptor, Clockwerk, etc)
Anti-Maiden Heroes:
  • Gankers (Nyx, Riki, Bounty Hunter, Clinkz, Bloodseeker, etc)
  • Silencers (Silencer, Drow, Death Prophet, Skywrath, etc)
  • Pugna

Monday, October 6, 2014

If-Then Drafting Tips

More Drafting Articles:

Generic Counter-Pick Heroes
Basic Drafting Tips
List of Hero Synergies for Drafting

If-Then Drafting & Banning Tips:

Healers:


  • If you want to draft direct, burst healers (Omni, Dazzle, Undying), ban Ancient Apparition (Ice Blast)
  • If you want to run Dazzle, ban Axe and/or Necrophos.  Both heroes make Shallow Grave fairly useless.  Ancient Apparition is also very annoying, as his Ice Blast makes healing useless.

Ban (or Pick) Pugna When:

  • You want Sand King (Nether Ward disables Blink Dagger when channeling Epi)
  • You want Skywrath Mage or Zeus (Nether Ward counters both quite handily)
  • You want Lina or Lion

Armor Reduction:

  • If you run armor-reduction strat, ban Omniknight (Guardian Angel counters physical damage)
  • Winter Wyvern is also annoying, as Cold Embrace blocks all physical damage.

Ban Silencer when:

  • you use initiators with combos (Magnus, Brewmaster, Sand King, Storm Spirit, Puck, etc)
Ban Rubick when:
  • you want to run Enigma, Phoenix, Witch Doctor, Bane, Pugna, or anyone with a channeled ult.
  • The enemy team needs a disabler or hard support
  • You plan to have stronger teamfight than the enemy team

Initiators:

  • If you run a squishy carry as a mid hero with no escape, consider banning Vengeful Spirit, Ogre Magi, Rubick, Crystal Maiden, Earthshaker (early ganks) or Batrider (midgame initiation).
  • If you run a squishy, ranged right-click hero (Drow, Sniper, Clinkz, Shadowfiend), consider banning Storm Spirit, Batrider, Axe, or Legion Commander
  • If you want a squishy carry that relies on escapes (Weaver, Clinkz, Bounty), or is highly dependent on low-cooldown abilities (Storm Spirit, QoP, etc), consider banning Doom (and possibly Silencer).  Skywrath isn't a bad ban in this case, either (long silence).

Dual Mids:


You may encounter a dual mid if any of the following occur:
  • Io pick (add Tiny, CK, Sven, PA, etc)
  • Lich + Hard Carry (Terrorblade, Faceless, etc)
  • Two strong semi-carry solo laners picked (e.g. Bristle + Brewmaster)
  • The enemy is running a three-core lineup, and none of the heroes are strong mids

Counter-Initiators:

  • If you run a burst lineup, ban Vengeful Spirit (Swap) or Dazzle (Shallow Grave). Chen is also very annoying, but not usually ban-worthy.
  • If you want Batrider, consider banning Vengeful Spirit (Nether Swap out of Lasso)
  • If you are against heroes with good-over-time ultimates (Death Prophet, Brewmaster, Jakiro), consider picking Naga (wait out their ultimates, re-engage).
  • If you want to draft a big-teamfight-ultimate team, consider banning Rubick, Silencer or Naga.  Ban Rubick to prevent spell-stealing, Silencer if you rely on combos, and Naga if you rely on abilities with temporary buffs (Primal Split, etc).

Disablers:

  • If you are facing heroes that typically go BKB as a core item (Sven, Luna, Gyro), consider picking a BKB-piercing disabler (Bane, Enigma, Beastmaster, Magnus).

Illusion Carries:

  • If you want an illusion-based carry (Terrorblade, Naga, CK, PL, etc), consider banning carries with Cleave or multi-target right-click (Luna, Sven, Gyro, Medusa, Dragon Knight).  Alternately, pick your carry last.
  • If you want Meepo, consider banning single-target bursty heroes (Lina/Lion/Centaur/Zeus)

Countering Carries:

  • If you need to counter a tough melee carry, consider a ranged carry that can "kite" the melee carry:  Viper, Weaver, Drow.  Alternately, go Lifestealer and use that health pool against him.
  • If you draft a squishy, farm-dependent hard carry like Spectre, PA, or Terrorblade, ensure that you pick defensive (i.e. not greedy) supports that would do well against an enemy tri-lane.  Ban common enemy tri-lane heroes, or gankers (such as Bounty Hunter or Storm Spirit) if you intend to spend a lot of time jungling.
  • If you want Broodmother, ban Earthshaker.  Echo Slam will destroy you unless you are very good at micro'ing your broodlings separately (and away from) your hero.  Alternately, run a non-Broodling build on Broodmother to mess with your opponents.

Picking Stealth Carries (Riki, Bounty, Clinkz)

  • If you want Riki or Nyx, DON'T ban Slardar or Bounty Hunter - it's too obvious.  Instead, pick the stealth hero later in your draft (or ban Slardar/Bounty if you get last ban).


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Attack Speed and Attack Slows

Attack Speed:

Heroes with Active Attack Speed Buffs

  • Troll Warlord (Ultimate)
  • Ogre Magi (Bloodlust)
  • Legion Commander (Press the Attack)

Heroes with Aura Attack Speed Buffs

  • Beastmaster (Inner Beast Aura)

Heroes that Need Attack Speed the Most:

  • Lifestealer (more Feast)
  • Tiny (high base attack dmg)
  • Treant (high base attack dmg)
  • Spiritbreaker (high base attack dmg, Bashes)
  • Slardar (more Bashes)
  • Faceless Void (more Time Locks)
  • Lone Druid Bear (more Entangle proc chances)
  • Slark (more stat-steal)
  • Doom (has really bad Agility gain) 
  • Centaur (very high Str gain, poor Ag gain)

Attack Slows:

Heroes with Ranged Attack Slows:

Jakiro (Liquid Fire)
Phoenix (Fire Spirits)
Faceless Void (Time Walk)
Visage (Grave Chill)

Attack Slow on Melee Hit

Abaddon (passive)

AOE Ability Attacks Slows:

Brewmaster (Thunder Clap)
Phoenix (Spirits)

Aura Attack Slows:

Omniknight (Aura)
Tusk (Frozen Sigil)

Defensive Attack Slows (on receiving a hit):

Lich (Ice Armor)

Team Ideas based on Attack Slows:

#1:
mid - Pugna (punish magic dmg)
Phoenix solo offlane (reduce right-click)

Faceless Void carry
Jakiro + Lich supports
Bans:  Vengeful Spirit, Silencer, Viper, Razor

#2:
Aggro Tri:  Lifestealer + Visage + Jakiro
Mid:  Viper (high magic resistance)
Safe Solo:  Brewmaster
Bans:  Batrider, Venomancer

#3:
Pugna mid
PA, Abaddon, Disruptor,
Phoenix offlane
Bans:  Viper, Razor, Batrider

#4:
Solo offlane:  Phoenix or Omni
Support:  Jakiro + Abaddon

Mid:  Tusk
Carry:  Anti-Mage (hates physical damage)

Hero Builds: Jakiro

Introduction

Jakiro is a great support hero - he can push, stun, defend, and team fight.  He doesn't really need items, and is decently tough, with a good starting Strength and Strength growth.

His main downside is his lengthly cast animation, meaning you might not get your ability off before you get stunned or before you die.  his attack range isn't great (400), but if you target-cast his Liquid Fire instead of auto-casting it, the range increases to 600.

Jakiro Abilities:

I favour Dual Breath over the recently-nerfed Ice Path.  Ice Path only does 50 damage at all levels, and has only a 1s stun at level 1.  Of Jakiro's three abilities, I think Liquid Fire is the strongest laning ability, and does well for pushing towers as well.

Skirmishing (or Aggro Tri) Build:

The idea of this build is to get access to your three abilities ASAP (with a 1/1/1 build at L3), and then maximize Dual Breath for skirmishes.  This build emphasizes skirmishing instead of pushing or laning.

Ability Build:
Level 1 - Dual Breath or Liquid Fire (depending on role)
Level 2 - Liquid Fire or Dual Breath
Level 3 - Ice Path (this gives you a 1/1/1 build)
Level 4 - Dual Breath (the damage increases from 80 to 180)
Level 5 - Dual Breath (the damage increases from 180 to 280 total)
Level 6 - Macropyre
Level 7 - Dual Breath (damage 280 to 380)
... Max Ice Path
... Max Liquid Fire

Item Build:
Starting:  Courier, Tango & Healing Potion*, Clarity, Gauntlet
Early: Boots, Stick, TP
Core: Arcane Boots, Urn, TP, Wards
Luxury:  Force Staff, Drums of Endurance, Ghost Sceptre, Eul's Sceptre
*Alternately, get 2 Tangos, and pool 2 charges to your mid-laner or carry.

The Laning/Pushing Build:

The idea of this build is to abuse Liquid Fire, both for harassment and pushing.  The main reason to level Liquid Fire ASAP is to reduce its cooldown.  It does a ridiculous amount of damage for a zero-mana-cost ability.  The damage doesn't scale that rapidly (75/100/125/150), but the cooldown decreases by ~5 seconds per level (20/15/10/4).  This gives you a harassment tool that scales from 225 damage per minute (225/60 = 3.75 DPS) to 2250 damage per minute (37.5 DPS).  This damage output is really annoying to lane against, especially in combination with, say, Heartstopper or TideBringer...

Ability Build:
Level 1 - Liquid Fire
Level 2 - Ice Path
Level 3 - Liquid Fire
Level 4 - Dual Breath
Level 5 - Liquid Fire
Level 6 - Macropyre
Level 7 - Liquid Fire (4 s cooldown)
... Max Dual Breath
... Max Ice Path


Item Build:
Starting:  Courier, Tango, Clarity, Healing Potion, Branch x 3
Early: Boots, Stick, TP
Core: Arcane Boots, Magic Wand, TP, Wards
Luxury: Force Staff, Drums, Ghost Sceptre, Eul's

Mid Build

I saw this done in a pro game in patch 6.81c, and Jakiro is surprisingly good at shutting down some mid heroes (especially melee ones), and forcing the tower early. I think this approach will do less well in 6.82b, since the nerfs to tower gold.  However, that said, one of my pub-friends used to play Jakiro mid with great results, even several patches ago, before the buff to Liquid Fire.

Ability Build:
Build is similar to the Laning/Pushing Build, above, with L2 and L4 swapped
Level 1 - Liquid Fire
Level 2 - Dual Breath
Level 3 - Liquid Fire
Level 4 - Ice Path (alternately, Dual Breath again, if no supports are rotating to gank mid)
Level 5 - Liquid Fire
Level 6 - Macropyre
Level 7 - Liquid Fire (4 s cooldown)
... Max Dual Breath
... Max Ice Path

Item Build:
Starting:  Tango, Branch x 3 (bottle rush)
Early:  Bottle, Boots
Core:  Arcane Boots, Mekanism, TP
Situational:  Eul's, Force Staff, Pipe, Veil of Discord, Blink
Luxury:  Aghanim's, Scythe

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Heroes that Jungle or Farm Stacks Efficiently

Caveat:  any hero can jungle.  Some jungle better than others because of their skills, or their ability to clear stacks - that's what this post is about.


Side note:  most solo offlaners are also able to jungle, so that if they are zoned out of the offlane, they can catch up on levels and farm elsewhere.

Carries that want stacks, especially ancient stacks:

  • Alchemist (can farm anything with Chemical Rage)
  • Anti-mage ("Battlefury" carry)
  • Phantom Assassin ("Battlefury" carry)
  • Bounty Hunter ("Battlefury" carry)
  • Juggernaut ("Battlefury" carry)
  • Ember Spirit ("Battlefury" carry)
  • Gyrocopter
  • Dragon Knight
  • Kunkka
  • Axe
  • Legion Commander
  • Medusa
  • Luna
  • Sven
  • Tiny (with Agh's)
  • Templar Assassin

Carries & Semi-Carries that want regular* stacks:

*because Ancients are magic immune
  • Faceless Void (usually goes Maelstrom)
  • Mirana (usually goes Maelstrom)
  • Wraith King (usually goes Maelstrom)
  • Slardar (if going Maelstrom)
  • Weaver (if going Maelstrom)
  • Sniper (Maelstrom)
  • Morphling (Maelstrom)
  • Lone Druid (Maelstrom or Radiance on bear)
  • Bristleback (Quill Spray is magical)
  • Centaur Warrunner (Double-edge for magical dmg)
  • Naga Siren (Riptide with illusions, Radiance)
  • Terrorblade (if going Radiance)
  • Specture (if going Radiance)
  • Phantom Lancer (if Radiance)
  • Meepo (Poof is magical damage)
  • Necrophos (Death Pulse is magical)
  • Pugna (Nether Blast)
  • Shadow Fiend (Shadowrazes)
  • Slark (Dark Pact)
  • Queen of Pain (Scream of Pain)
  • Razor (Plasma Field)
  • Tinker (March of Machines no longer works on ancients)
  • Timbersaw (all abilities magical)
  • Troll Warlord (Whirling Axes is magical)

Carries that DON'T usually want stacks, but like to jungle:

  • Lifestealer
  • Ursa
  • Nature's Prophet (farms lanes, towers, and enemy jungle instead)
  • Broodmother (same as NP)
  • Riki (farms heroes instead)
  • Clinkz (farms heroes instead)
  • Drow (farms heroes instead)
  • Chaos Knight (farms heroes instead)
  • Silencer (relies on single-target orb attacks)
  • Outworld Destroyer (relies on single-target orb attacks)
  • Lycan (farms lanes and towers instead)
  • Terrorblade (farms with illusions only, unless going Radiance)

Dedicated Jungling Supports:

The reason you want a jungling support is to make better use of a safe lane tri-lane that is facing a solo laner, where the carry doesn't need a lot of support against the solo, and you don't want to be sapping your carry's experience. These supports are most often run as junglers ONLY:
  • Enigma (initiator/support)
  • Enchantress (pusher/ganker)
  • Chen (pusher/support)

Best Jungling Supports:

  • Sand King (Sandstorm to farm stacks)
  • Venomancer (Plague Ward maze)
  • Crystal Maiden (farms with Frostbite)
  • Keeper of the Light (farms multiple camps with Illuminate)
  • Techies (remote mines)

Good Offlaner-Junglers

These offlaners can catch up on farm by farming ancient or other stacks if zoned out of the offlane:
  • Tidehunter (farms Ancient stacks with Anchor Smash)
  • Dark Seer (Ion Shell)
  • Beastmaster (Wild Axes)
  • Nature's Prophet (Treants)
  • Phoenix (farms regular stacks with Fire Spirits - needs at least Level 3 first)
  • Windranger (farms multiple regular camps with Power Shot)

Unusual Ways to Jungle Supports: