Best Hard Support Heroes in Dota 2

Hard Support Heroes are some of the most overlooked heroes, yet they are essential in winning the game. They look relatively easy to play but are some of the most complex heroes in Dota 2. Support heroes are the critical factor in winning team fights and securing your area. This guide will tell you about the current Best Hard Support Heroes in Dota 2.

Hard Support Heroes

Hard Support Heroes usually play in Safelane with the Carry hero. Their primary aim in the laning phase is to babysit the Carry. Protecting and supporting the Carry hero is extremely important, as they are what eventually wins the game for your team. Hard supports zone out the enemy by harassing them constantly, while they provide vision to prevent ganks. Supports have to be cautious of their positioning, as they can soak up the Carry’s XP. Your team has a higher winning chance if you support your Carry well throughout the game.

Support Heroes are ability dependant heroes. This means even with little farm, they can have a powerful impact on the game. Most Supports have abilities that buff teammates while debuffing enemies. They contribute heavily in team fights while protecting your allies so that they can fight longer.

Players playing Hard Supports Heroes must-have map awareness, mechanical skills, and accurate timing to execute these heroes perfectly. Listed below are the Best Hard Support Heroes in Dota 2.

Shadow Shaman

Shadow Shaman is a ranged Intelligence hero who functions as a Hard Support. His abilities also allow him to be a disabler and a pusher. His range allows him to kite enemy heroes to continuously harass them in lane giving room to his lane Carry to farm. He works best with a hero who has hard-to-place AoE moves since he can shackle an enemy unit into place.

Ether Shock is Shadow Shaman’s first ability that distributes damage among multiple units. This can be used in team fights to lower enemy heroes’ health. However, it works best in lane where Shadow Shaman can use it on creeps to help his Carry farm, all the while harassing enemy heroes. Hex turns the enemy target into a chicken that is harmless and unable to do much except move at a very slow speed. For the four seconds duration, the enemy is unable to defend, attack or escape making them highly vulnerable. Shackles, on the other hand, binds an enemy unit into place, allowing your teammates to deal damage to the enemy hero. 

Lastly, Mass Serpent Ward lets Shaman either kill off a lone low HP hero by using Shackle while the Serpents deal damage. Otherwise, it’s perfect to use on towers allowing your team to push through them whenever this ability is off cool-down. Making Shadow Shaman one of the most dangerous supports in-game when played right.

Lion

Lion is one of the best supports because of his disabling and high damage abilities. He’s a versatile hero who can be played at any position, but he shines as a Hard Support. Multiple sources of lockdown in his arsenal provide ample time for his allies to kill the enemy. All these abilities make him a terrifying hero to be up against.

Earth Spike sends a wave on a straight path, stunning and damaging all enemies it hits. Hex transforms an enemy unit into a frog, inhibiting them from using any spells or items. Mana Drain allows Lion to steal mana from the targeted enemy, while also slowing them. Finger of Death is one of the best abilities available in the game. It deals massive damage to the targeted enemy and can kill any enemy on low health.

The combo of Earth Spike, Hex, and Finger of Death can instantly kill any enemy with a low health pool. Aghanim’s Scepter increases the damage and makes his ultimate an AOE move, which can kill a group of enemies. Blink Dagger gives him mobility and allows him to be positioned easily.

He provides his allies with massive ganking and initiating potential, and can actively turn the tide in any team fight.

Crystal Maiden

Crystal Maiden is another great support worthy of being mentioned in the list of Best Hard Support Heroes in Dota 2. This is because she has a global ability that helps all allies in her team apart from her active spells that disable and root enemy heroes. 

Crystal Nova is an AoE ability that not only deals damage but also slows down Movement and Attack speed. This ability is great to use in team fights allowing your team an advantage since the enemy’s attack speed is severely reduced. Frostbite is a single target ability that roots an enemy hero, making them unable to move or escape. All the while dealing damage to them. It’s perfect for freezing an opponent hero while your team finishes them off. Her passive is a global ability that regenerates mana. It can give up to +2 Mana to her allies, making mana dependant cores able to function much more effectively.

Lastly, her ultimate ability Freezing Field is truly dangerous if positioned right in a team fight. It deals damage in a large AoE around Crystal Maiden, reducing the movement speed of enemies while nuking them with magic damage. If used right, it can turn a team fight around in favor of her allies. Additionally, it can be used in synchronization with moves like Magnus’s Reverse Polarity or Enigma’s Black Hole. Making it capable enough to kill the entire enemy team by itself when executed perfectly. 

Ancient Apparition

Ancient Apparition has one of the best team fighting abilities and can lead his team to victory when played intelligently. He can disable, slow, and kill enemies with his high damaging abilities. Although these abilities and their timings are hard to master, but once perfected, they can change the flow of the game.

Cold Feet is a delayed, disabling move. Ancient Apparition places a curse on the enemy that slowly deals damage until the timer runs out, after which it stuns the enemy. The enemy can dispel the move by running away. Ice Vortex is an AOE slow, which increases magic damage taken by enemies under its effect. Chilling Touch gives increased range, movement slow, and massive magic damage on his next attack. Ice Blast is a spell that can change the game. It sends a tracer to any location that, when activated, sends an icy ball to that location. Enemies affected by this are heavily damaged and additional damage over time. It instantly kills the enemy if their health drops below a certain percentage.

All these spells are great team-fighting abilities and give your cores the edge to kill all opponents. 

Ancient Apparition. When paired up with Cold Feet, you have a guaranteed stun, and this gives your core a certified kill. Ancient Apparition is a valuable asset in any team and gives a better fighting chance to your cores.

Ogre Magi

Ogre Magi adds beneficial buffs to your team, which can help turn the game at any point. He is a really tanky Hard Support, who can soak up the enemy hits while your cores finish off the enemies. Even though he is a relatively easy hero to play, that does not make him any less of a threat. He dominates the laning phase and has a powerful impact throughout the game.

Fireblast is a short-ranged stun that heavily damages the enemy. Ignite causes the targeted enemy to take damage over time and drastically reduces movement speed. Ogre can spam this in the laning phase, making it impossible for the enemy heroes to farm effectively. Bloodlust gives a massive attack and movement speed boost to the targeted allies. The buff allows the cores on your team to farm or kill enemies quickly. Multicast is what makes Ogre Magi so unique. It gives each ability a random chance to be cast multiple times on each use. This can be deadly if Fireblast is cast four times on an enemy, granting an immediate kill opportunity.

Hand of Midas is a go-to item on Ogre Magi. It’s affected by Multicast, which gives a huge Gold bonus every time it’s used. Aghanim’s Shard unlocks Fire Shield. When cast on allies, it absorbs massive damage for the next 3 moves and damages the attacker instead. All these abilities make Ogre Magi an absolute menace to the opposing team.

Disruptor

Disruptor by himself can change the outcome of any fight. His spells can wreak havoc in any team fight and can be the deciding factor for the winner. Most of his spells are AOE, which makes him a threat in any game he’s a part of.

Thunder Strike damages the target over time and slows movement and attack speed. The enemy is also under vision for the duration of the spell. Glimpse teleports the target hero back to the position he was four seconds ago. This makes it perfect for disengaging or bringing back a fleeing opponent. Kinetic Field forms a circular barrier that enemies can’t pass through. Static Storm is an AOE ability that damages and silences all enemies under its effect. Kinetic Field and Static Storm are a deadly combo and can be the winning move for a team fight.

Aghanim’s Scepter allows Static Storm to mute items as well, preventing any escape. Veil of Discord lowers the magic resistance of enemies in an area, increasing the damage output for Disruptor.  

Hard Support Heroes are equally important in the game and should be drafted carefully. When played efficiently, they help win the game with ease. Hopefully, this article on the Hard Support Heroes in Dota 2 will help you draft effectively and help your team win.