Amongst all the weird variations of heroes and roles made possible by facets in Dota 2, the most successful seems to be support healing Tinker.
Dota 2 has seen some crazy stuff in the past. Kunkka was once never played as a core, Monkey King also came into the arena as a support and Io, who has mostly been thought of as a support, carried OG to their TI9 victory in the carry role. Dota 2 metas keep changing and with that, new roles become possible. In the past, that was mainly through ‘talents’, which was the case with Io. But after the release of ‘facets’ in Dota 2 patch 7.36, those kinds of switcheroos have become a possibility with a specific facet chosen for the hero. There has been quite a bit of that in the last few weeks, but one of the major success stories is Tinker taking penance from his typical menacing mid role to become a menacing healing support.
Support Tinker was not an unheard-of thing. Ever since he got Defense Matrix in Dota 2 patch 7.28, he has had the support potential, but has still been mostly played as a mid hero. But what makes him a more potent support in the current Dota 2 meta is his facet, ‘Repair Bots’. Repair Bots was introduced in patch 7.36 to have March of the Machines heal allies. As it sits right now, this is the facet with the highest win rate in pubs according to Dotabuff, with the win rate in Divine and Immortal brackets being higher than 58% in the last 7 days of pubs.
But when you look at the numbers for when the facet was introduced, it is 80 heal over 4 seconds. That is nothing to write home about, let alone make you be considered a healer. IceFrog and Valve realized that, and in three of the next four patches, buffed March of the Machines, with the heal being more than doubled as compared to the initial value (one of the buffs was mana cost reduction for the skill). As it stands in Dota 2 patch 7.37, it is a 45 non stacking heal (meaning multiple instances of March of the Machines won’t heal together). So one use of March of the Machines heals all allies heroes for 180 HP. But the beautiful (or irritating, depending on whether Tinker is on your team or the opponent team) about Tinker is that he can keep using Rearm and keep the heals coming! For the enemy team to fight into it, they are taking damage while your team gets healed. It is a bit like Oracle’s Rain of Destiny.
(taken from Liquipedia Dota 2 Wiki)
The heal isn’t the only thing that makes Tinker a good support though. He has Defense Matrix, which is a 320 damage barrier with 40% status resistance. Both those numbers can be bumped up to 440 and 50% with talents at level 15 and level 20 respectively. The skill did receive a significant nerf in Dota 2 patch 7.36c, with the dispel for Defense Matrix being demoted from a strong dispel to a basic dispel. But the damage barrier and status resistance are what give credence to it being an ability in the arsenal of a support hero.
The remaining ability is Laser, which is the one unchanged basic ability for Tinker over the years. While it doesn’t scream ‘support’, it is a nice nuke and disarming ability. Laser, March of the Machines and Keen Conveyance are a great way to keep lanes pushed out, which is one of the most desired attributes in a position 4 support.
Skill Build for Support Tinker in Dota 2 Patch 7.37
So how does the support Tinker go on about leveling skills? Dotabuff has a great feature that provides details on the most popular skill builds. Based on the recent pubs, it is either Laser or March of the Machines that is skilled at level 1, and then the other ability is skilled at level 2. One point in Laser during the laning stage gives Tinker the ability to secure the ranged creep as well as disarm opponents when needed. One point in Defense Matrix is the way to go, and whether that point is taken at level 3 or level 4 depends on the lane matchup and how the lane is going.
In terms of skill maxing out, March of the Machines is almost always maxed out at level 7. This way, Tinker can help with team fights early in the game. The second ability maxed out is Defense Matrix, typically at level 11, and Laser is maxed out last. Rearm is levelled whenever possible, as it doesn’t only reset the cooldown of abilities, but Keen Conveyance also levels up with Rearm.
(taken from Dotabuff)
Item Build for Support Tinker in Dota 2 Patch 7.37
The most popular items from Tinker from the last week of pubs are shown below. Two of the most popular items are Holy Locket and Guardian Greaves. Holy Locket amplifies the March of the Machines heal from 180 to 234, and the Guardian Greaves heal increases from 350 to 455. These two items, along with Aghanim’s Shard, are the main items on support Tinker. Aghanim’s Shard gives him Warp Flare, which is a handy ability to disorient enemy heroes, especially ones like Alchemist and Ursa who like to jump in and be in your face.
(taken from Dotabuff)
The March of the Machines heal was buffed from 30 to 45 per second in Dota 2 patch 7.37, so the professional teams haven’t had a lot of time to display their interpretation of the new Tinker and his support potential. The next tournament that will display tier 1 teams like Team Falcons, Gaimin Gladiators and Team Spirit is FISSURE Universe: Episode 3 that begins on the 21st of August. So we will find out whether support Tinker holds in weight in the professional arena. But as far as pubs are concerned, this is a very strong hero right now and can be the way to score some good wins and MMR.
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