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Although DOTA 2's popularity has wavered recently, the MOBA still commands a huge player count and a lively competitive scene. Valve recently shook up the game with Patch 7.31. The patch not only brought several reworks and changes to the game mechanics but also marked the arrival of the Primal Beast.
There is a change in the meta with every such patch that players slowly get acquainted with. Patch 7.31 brought a rework to Techies, a new hero called Primal Beast, and changes to neutral creeps and items. Furthermore, there were hero changes that players needed to adjust to for their matches.
Support heroes in Patch 7.31c for DOTA 2 players to quickly gain MMR
Support heroes in DOTA 2 is integral to a team's composition. Often, they babysit the position one carries during the early stages of a match while purchasing wards and other necessary items to help their team sustain and win fights.
Although support roles usually do not have flashy or glamorous plays like the carries, they are essential to a team's success. The following five heroes are some of the best support heroes to pick this patch for players to secure a win.
Keeper of the Light
Despite being a frail older man on a mount with a staff in hand, Keeper of the Light is a force to reckon with and one who has once again found his relevance in the latest patch. This team-fight-oriented DOTA 2 hero is a nuisance to deal with in the right hands with abilities such as Illuminate, Solar Bind, and Chakra Magic.
The first, which has to be channeled, can be used to dish out a significant amount of damage, stack creeps, or clear out waves. Chakra Magic can perfectly pair with other heroes on Keeper of the Light's team by restoring mana and reducing the cooldowns of the abilities currently on cooldown.
DOTA 2 Carries limited by low mana pools, or massive mana costs will be delighted to lane with Keeper of the Light. On top of that, Solar Bind is an ability that annoys the enemies throughout a match with its magic resistance reduction and slow movement speed.
Depending on how a match goes, players can choose to buy the Aghanim's Scepter on Keeper of the Light to unlock Will-O-Wisp.
Players also can use the Spirit Form, in which KoTL does not have to channel the Illuminate ability, and it heals. KoTL gets bonus movement speed and a cast range bonus.
Treant Protector
One with the forest, Rooftrellen, or the Treant Protector, is an excellent support hero who can significantly impact the outcome of a match. Treant Protector can be played at either position four or five in DOTA 2. The hero provides a large amount of healing. He also has the option to heal buildings that is sure to frustrate enemies.
Treant Protector can frustrate DOTA 2 players with Nature's Grasp as he can walk among the trees with a movement speed bonus. This passive ability makes him a hard hero to get hold of while Treant tries to clear creep waves.
Players can buy the Aghanim's Shard to upgrade the ability and have the option to become invisible while Tree Walking.
His global regenerating armor and healing abilities also ensure that his carries sustain a fight wherever on the map. Players can also choose to heal any building, especially towers, to delay a push from the enemy team.
The Aghanim's Scepter provides Treant Protector with a new ability - Eyes in the Forest. This allows the player to enchant a tree and get vision around it.
The lumbering healing ally is a great addition to almost any composition. Leech Seed and Overgrowth are amazing during team fights. All of this justifies Treant Protector's high win rate in DOTA 2 and makes him one of the best support players can choose from at the moment.
Shadow Shaman
Rhasta, the Shadow Shaman, is a nightmare to deal with at the moment in DOTA 2. His high base damage makes him a difficult hero to deal with during the laning phase, where opposition players will have to spend gold on consumables to sustain.
The hero has two disabling skills Hex and Shackles, which with the right itemizing will spell doom for even carries on the enemy team later in a match.
With Aghanim's Shard, Shadow Shaman can solo kill support if caught alone. With the Shard Upgrade, the Shackle ability spawns four Serpent Wards around the target and increases the cast range by 125.
Coupled with Hex and Ether Shock, it is a deadly combination. The low cooldown on the abilities also plays to Shaman's advantage.
On top of that, the ultimate ability of Shadow Shaman, Mass Serpent Ward, is excellent at dishing out a high amount of damage to heroes and buildings even when Shadow Shaman himself is out of the fight. The hero is a formidable ally to have on any team and boasts a high win rate.
Undying
In a match, the Almighty Dirge is annoying support, especially early in the laning phase. The herald of the Dead God, Undying, is tasked to spread the Dirge across the land, and he does precisely the same through his abilities. Early on, Tombstone is a horrific ability to deal with.
The Tombstone allows zombies to spawn upon enemy units and attack them. Their attack will slow the target, and if the target goes below a certain level of health, the zombies have their attack, and movement speed increased.
The best option is to take down the tombstone itself, but this changes the focus of the enemy heroes during a team fight. A well-placed tombstone causes severe headaches as opposition players have to decide if they can run away or if they can take down the tombstone.
On top of this, Undying makes formidable fighting support in DOTA 2. His Decay, stealing strength from enemy heroes for himself while dealing damage, Soul Rip, to damage enemy or heal an ally, even the tombstone, and Flesh Golem, where he turns into one with increased strength, are attacks that slow attrition and do damage amplification.
Pugna
Pugna shone brightly from the Nether Reaches in the recently concluded ESL One Stockholm DOTA 2 Major. The hero was one of the most popular picks and had a win percentage of 58% throughout the tournament. Team Tundra did wonders with the hero, even though the 7.31c DOTA 2 patch nerfed him.
The hero deals a lot of magical damage with various abilities. Pugna can Decrepify an unit, making it unable to attack or be attacked while taking more magic damage. The low cooldown Nether Blast can be spammed to deal a significant amount of damage to target units and even buildings.
The Nether Ward deals a significant amount of damage, especially in the latter stages of a match. It will "fire at any enemy hero who casts a spell dealing base damage plus the damage multiplier of the mana spent by the enemy hero."
The Aghanim Shard Upgrade increases the cast range of the ward and makes it possible for Pugna to cast his ultimate ability, Life Drain, onto the ward to affect all enemy heroes "within 700 units of the ward for 70% of its damage."
Pugna is currently excellent support to have in DOTA 2. He can dole out a massive amount of magic damage and further exacerbate the situation through proper itemizing and positioning.
