Ogre Magi Support - How do? | Dota 2 Guide to Support

 

Ogre Magi has insane starting armor, in many cases he can straight up melee harass and threaten stuns. In 6.80, Unrefined Fireblast has been changed to cost 60% of your current mana, so there isn't this problem anymore. If you're going to play Ogre Magi you really should get Aghanim's Scepter

How to lane support as Ogre Magi?

You baby-sit the same as you would with any support. Allowing the carry to get the last hits and harass the enemy when they come in for last hits. Protect the carry from ganks. Harass is much more difficult as a melee support, however, so you may want to change up your starting items to include more regen (think two lots of Tangos instead of one) and a Stout Shield. The most important thing at this stage though is to not die and not to let the carry die.

Do I lane until someone calls for a gank?

At this early stage in your Dota career I suspect it will be rare for anyone to call for a gank until they're already getting whipped in their lane - by then it may already be too late. Keep an eye on the mini-map. Watch for missing. Call missing for other lanes if you have to. (You can alt-click an enemy portrait to call them as missing.) Ping the map. When you see the enemy over-extending a lane (too close to friendly towers, creating a space between them and their tower) think about going for a gank.

Let everyone know your intentions.

You may want to co-ordinate it with mid especially if they are controlling the runes nicely. (If they aren't controlling the runes, perhaps help them out by warding/pinging/going to a rune spot just before it is due to spawn.) Type in chat "roaming top for gank, fancy helping mid?" and stuff like that. Ping when you arrive. TP in to the T2 tower if they would see you arrive. Smoke gank if you think they may have warded. Draw on the mini-map to show your intended route and target.

As a support, your aim early on is to make sure your carry is farming safely.

Be aggressive towards your lane opponents and try to harass them when you can, and try to defend/discourage any attempt from them to make a move on your carry. Since Ogre Magi is a melee hero you'll probably need to use your  Fireblast/ Ignite for harass instead. In terms of ganking, don't want for someone to ask for one - most people at your level will not ask, they'll bee too busy focusing on not dying/trying to last hit. You need to actively look for opportunities to score a kill - recognise when your lane opponent is vulnerable and over-extended (half HP and close to your tower is a great opportunity), and watch the minimap for other lanes putting themselves in a vulnerable position.

Do I not last-hit?

Ogre Magi is a support mostly. He is effective without much farm and trails off in late-game (as do any magic-heavy characters). All of the gold in your lane could better serve someone who does have late-game presence and is item dependant - i.e. a carry. If, however, your carry is not in lane, or will not be able to reach last-hits then take them for yourself. Better to go to you than nobody. You can stack and pull the camps and get those last-hits if you need a burst of cash for some extra wards or your boots or if your creep wave is too close to their tower. Most of your gold will come from successful ganks and the passive gold income.

Is the rod worth it? 

Aghanim's Scepter is more of a luxury item I would say. It adds another stun which is the really nice thing and the stats you get from Aghanim's Scepter is lovely. However, I'd say you were better off buying utility items such as the Mekansm or Pipe of Insight to give your team better presence, wards and invis detection for sight and get the Aghanim's Scepter if you're still covering all of that stuff (or someone else is). The Unrefined Fireblast is always 60% of your remaining mana - great if you're low on mana because it won't cost much, but expensive if you cast it with full HP - make sure to cast your other spells first. Buff your allies (especially your right-clicking carry), cast your other two spells, then cast Unrefined.

The biggest of these is Mekansm - it makes both you and nearby allies tougher, and gives you an AoE heal through it's active. You don't want more than one per team, but this is a very powerful item early on and generally something that's picked up by supports. Drum of Endurance is another good one - it gives you stats and move speed, as well as a nice move speed/attack speed aura for nearby allies. Urn of Shadows can be picked up for a cheap healing effect if you're doing a lot of ganking, while a Force Staff can be used to escape (or help an ally escape) or to chase down fleeing enemies, among other things.

Are there any other must-have support items?

Generally, any item where it doesn't matter who buys it - just that it gets bought - is usually picked up by a support. That's because you don't rely on items to increase your effectiveness, while carries want to funnel every gold they get into making themselves more powerful. Animal Courier, Observer Ward, aura items, ultility items, crowd control items, all tend to be picked up by support heroes.

In terms of 'must have', Mekansm is the big one that I'd say you always want as a team. You especially want it if you're pushing or going for early teamfights, but it's all round a great item. Everything else is more situational:

• Drum of Endurance if you're fragile and/or need speed to chase people down and stun them.
• Pipe of Insight if you're up against heavy magic damage.
• Vladmir's Offering if you have a lot of melee heroes who would benefit from the lifesteal aura.
• Force Staff if you need a way to chase/flee/adjust positioning quickly.
• Necronomicon if you want extra push.
• Urn of Shadows if you're ganking and want to be able to heal yourself/allies.
• Eul's Scepter of Divinityr for cheap mana regen, move speed, and the ability to take an enemy/yourself temporarily out of the fight.
• Ghost Scepter if the enemy is all/mostly physical damage - it makes you temporarily invulnerable to it!
• Scythe of Vyse if you're filthy rich and your team lacks stuns/disables.

And so on.

As for starting items, Stout Shield is useful if you're expecting to take heavy harass, and is mostly only picked up by melee heroes. It's a decent idea on a farming Ogre Magi, but it's a bit expensive for a support since you'll want to get the courier and ideally some wards too. You can however buy it from the side shop, so you can always pick one up later if needed. Iron Branches are an all round choice - they've very good value for what you get, and can be built into a Magic Wand fairly easily. The other popular choice on a support is to get a Ring of Protection for + armour, which you can build into a Ring of Basilius later (and optionally a Vladmir's Offering even later again).

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In general, Ogre Magi is a good pick to sit in lane with a ranged carry, such as Luna, Drow Ranger or Sniper. You're going to have a hard time if you're both melee and you're up against ranged. He's tanky for a support and his stun is wonderful - use it to set up kills (ping first) especially if you can chain stuns (Luna is another nice example here - Mirana would work really well too). Buff your carry(s) before team fights!