In the fifth and last of this five part series, we take a look at the five best hard supports in pubs from the first month of Dota 2 patch 7.35.
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We’re at the final stop of our journey to see which heroes have been doing well in pubs in the initial days of Dota 2 patch 7.35. In the last few days, we’ve looked at the top 5:
Here, we take a look at which hard supports, or position 5 supports, have been getting the job done in the new meta that has developed around patch 7.35.
The heroes have been picked as the best performing ones from the Divine and Immortal brackets. This data is as per Dotabuff and has been analyzed for the past one month, so it well and truly reflects the games from patch 7.35 only. The choice of heroes has been made from a combination of high pick rate and high win rate heroes.
Abaddon (Win rate: 5.81%, Pick rate: 54.70%)
Abaddon is one of the few heroes that doubles as a core and support, and is popular in both roles in the current meta. Abaddon has a 325 HP heal on a 5 second cooldown with Mist Coil, which is the primary factor that makes him a viable support. The second impactful spell, of course, is Aphotic Shield, which has been buffed in recent times. In Dota 2 patch 7.34e, the barrier capacity of Aphotic Shild received a buff. In patch 7.35, he got a new talent at level 10 which gives Aphotic Shield +15 HP regeneration. That is a huge buff for the support Abaddon. Had this talent been at level 15, its impact would have been significantly lower. But in the early to mid game, 15 HP regeneration on a core in a fight can absolutely turn the tide.
In addition to all this, Abaddon is one the best carriers of Solar Crest. Aphotic Shield and Solar Crest can provide a 610 HP barrier, with the Mist Coil heal to back it up!
Treant Protector (Win rate: 9.59%, Pick rate: 53.35%)
Treat Protector’s changelog over the last few patches has been a mixed bag. His most recent changes have been nerfs, but he continues to ride the popularity he gained in Dota 2 patch 7.34. He was the top dog in pub supports in Dota 2 patch 7.34. While the nerfs have reigned him back a bit, Rooftrellen continues to be an impactful hero who can go in either side lane as a support, depending on the matchup, and also has a global presence with Living Armor.
Vengeful Spirit (Win rate: 13.32%, Pick rate: 52.84%)
Vengeful Spirit is popular as a position 5 hero for the same reasons she is also one of the best position 4 heroes in the current Dota 2 meta. The only difference is farm priority – getting an Aghanim’s Scepter is much easier while playing as a position 4 support, while it might take a lot longer to get it as a hard support.
Oracle (Win rate: 6.27%, Pick rate: 53.51%)
Oracle’s biggest change in recent times was in Dota 2 patch 7.33, when Fate’s Edict was buffed to only disarm enemies and only provide the magic resistance to allies. Along with that, Rain of Destiny was moved from the Aghanim;s Scepter to the Aghanim’s Shard, which was great because the skill was extremely good ever since it was introduced to the game, but getting an Aghanim’s Scepter on Oracle was not that easy a task.
Besides riding the buffs from patch 7.33 though, Oracle has gained popularity in the current meta as patch 7.35 has propped up magic damage, and False Promise is one of the best ways to counter burst damage. If you can keep your core alive through the initial burst, there’s a good chance you can turn the team fight.
(taken from Dota 2 Wiki)
Io (Win rate: 3.77%, Pick rate: 53.38%)
It’s been a while since Io has been a part of the conversation as one of the strong meta heroes. A few years ago, the Wisp was pretty much in the top 5 contested heroes in every professional tournament. But times have changed. In the current day and age, one of Io’s big strengths is from Tether giving an ally 14% spell amplification bonus. In a meta where magic damage is strong, that is a strong skill to possess. Carries like Luna and Troll Warlord, who pair up well with Io, are doing quite well in the current meta and both have magic damage included in their arsenal. On top of it, Io’s Shard also gives it spell life steal, which is shared with the tethered target. It previously also gave an increased 10% spell amplification with Overcharge, which could take the spell amplification of a Tethered ally to 24%! That was obviously broken, and was rightly rectified.
On the flip side, Io’s healing ability is quite strong in helping an ally survive a barrage of magic damage. And Relocate, as long as you can use it correctly, can be used to help a core survive through burst damage as well.
Honorable Mentions
Chen (Win rate: 3.60%, Pick rate: 52.84%)
Shadow Shaman (Win rate: 5.35%, Pick rate: 52.22%)
Lion (Win rate: 14.23%, Pick rate: 49.66%)
That brings us to the end of the top 5 heroes series for the first month of Dota 2 patch 7.35. In the next few days, we’ll take a look at how the professional meta is shaping up, based on the plethora of Dota 2 tournaments that will be taking place.
