Last night, we played a game against some of Cousin Simon's friends, and one of them was playing Pudge. I kept getting hooked over and over again, even when I knew where Pudge was. I think I don't really know the range of his hooks as well as I should.
The pro teams seem to label the players within a team using a 1-5 scale, where the player 1 has the highest priority on farm, down to play 5 who has the lowest priority. E.g. if player 2 and player 3 are in the same lane, player 3 should allow player 2 to get all of the last hits where possible. Player 5 is typically the "hard support", and as they are the lowest priority for farming, they tend to have almost no items by the end of the game. There was a comic I saw with Crystal Maiden who had a huge smile on her face because she finally saved up enough gold to buy a big item. She goes to the shop, and finally gets to buy.... boots. I think I play the 5 position better than I play the others, so I have been focusing on that.
In the matchmaking games we usually play, I end up getting a lot more farm than I should, because I usually figure, if the person I'm lanning with isn't able to last hit very well, I might as well take the money, otherwise nobody is getting it. This usually means I have better items than I normally would if I were to truly play the 5 position. This also means I've become really complacent as I normally get away with doing things that I probably wouldn't have been able to get away with if I had no items.
So I've decided to try playing hard mode hard support in matchmaking games (when I play a support hero). The basic idea is that you cannot buy any items that boost your health. So nothing with +strength or +health. I'm still undecided about whether +armour and +magic resistance are allowed, but I'm just going to say they are for now and see how difficult the games are.
I played a couple of games today, and realised that this rules out a lot of the typical support items (Mekansm, Pipe of Insight, Drum of Endurance, etc.). Poor Olek had to get a pipe for the team because I had banned myself from doing so (even though I had already built the Hood of Defiance). So I've decided to split it into Not-So-Hard Mode Hard Support, where only items that give you more strength than any other stat (with the +health stat at a 19:1 ratio for "strength" and +mana at a 13:1 ratio for "intelligence"), and Hard Mode Hard Support, which is what I initially described.
Items banned in not-so-hard mode hard support
- Gauntlets of Stength
- Belt of Strength
- Ogre Club (however, you can purchase this to make your Aghanim's Sceptre as long as it's the last component you need)
- Bracer
- Power Treads in Strength form
- Urn of Shadows
- Drum of Endurance
- Skull Basher
- Abyssal Blade
- Vanguard
- Black King Bar
- Heart of Tarrasque
- Sange (however, you can purchase this to make Sange and Yasha, as long as you never have any of the components of Sange in your inventory (stash is OK) except the recipe)
- Heaven's Halberd
- Satanic
- Reaver
- Vitality Booster (however, you can purcahse this as part of your Soul Booster or Rod of Atos as long as it's the last component)
Additional items banned in hard mode hard support
- Iron Branch
- Circlet
- Ultimate Orb
- Wraith Band
- Null Talisman
- Magic Wand
- Ghost Sceptre
- Headdress (except as the last component of Pipe of Insight)
- Buckler
- Ring of Aquila
- Mekansm
- Necronomicon
- Dagon
- Rod of Atos
- Aghanim's Sceptre
- Scythe of Vyse
- Ethereal Blade
- Soul Booster
- Manta Style
- Bloodstone
- Linken's Sphere
- Sange and Yasha
- Eye of Skadi
- Point Booster
Additional items banned in masochistic hard mode hard support (no armour/magic resist)
- Slippers of Agility
- Band of Elvenskin
- Blade of Alacrity
- Ring of Protection
- Chainmail
- Helm of Iron Will
- Platemail
- Cloak
- Power Treads in Agility form
- Ring of Basilius
- Tranquil Boots
- Medallion of Courage
- Vladmir's Offering
- Veil of Discord
- Armlet of Mordiggian
- Butterfly
- Hood of Defiance
- Blade Mail
- Shiva's Guard
- Assault Cuirass
- Helm of the Dominator
- Yasha
- Diffusal Blade
- Eaglesong
Items allowed in super you must really hate your life hard mode support (i.e. Consumables, basic boots and bottle)
- Clarity
- Tango
- Healing Salve
- Smoke of Deceit
- Town Portal Scroll
- Dust of Appearance
- Animal Courier
- Flying Courier
- Observer Ward
- Sentry Ward
- Bottle
- Boots of Speed
I realise the whole thing is a bit contrived, as most hard supports will get a bracer or two to avoid being one-shot, but that's why this is hard mode. You need to position yourself so you avoid damage completely. So far I'm 1-1 for hard mode hard support, and I've found the biggest problem is that you really need to end the game quickly, or get a large enough advantage that the other team can't really go hunting for you. Once the game drags out, your lack of health means even the other supports can auto attack you to death pretty quickly.
It is pretty challenging, as you usually have to go back to heal a lot more often and play a lot safer meaning you are pretty underlevelled for most of the game. I think I'll try hard mode hard support when I'm not the only support on the team, and not-so-hard mode hard support if I am the only support. Baby steps.
It is pretty challenging, as you usually have to go back to heal a lot more often and play a lot safer meaning you are pretty underlevelled for most of the game. I think I'll try hard mode hard support when I'm not the only support on the team, and not-so-hard mode hard support if I am the only support. Baby steps.
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