Dota 2 Hard Support tier list: best heroes to support ranked pubs

Hard supports or position five receive the least amount of gold, yet they’re expected to do so much. They have to get the carry through the laning phase, stack neutral cramps, control vision, defend, and find ganks, all trying to find somewhere to get their experience and gold on the map.

Yet, they’re the backbone of the team, and the difference of an active, hard support can win the game. It’s a challenging role to make the most of, which is why you’ll need to know which are the best hard supports in Dota 2’s current meta.

This Dota 2 tier list reflects the live meta of the current patch and game state. Factors like balance tweaks, item shifts, popular strategies, meta hero synergies, and player learning all nudge heroes up or down. Because we’re targeting ranked pubs, we favor hard supports who can thrive with the bare minimum resources and execute their game plan in a relatively uncoordinated environment.

As with our Dota 2 offlane tier list, this one leans toward flavor of the patch picks with strong win rates and healthy presence. We’ll stay grounded in each hero’s value as a pos 5 while accounting for the average skill execution tax.

The tier list is tailored towards Dota 2’s most recent patch and pro play tends. Important information, like pick and win rates, comes from the game’s in-game client and external sites such as dotabuff and dota2protracker.

While not popular in pro play, Witch Doctor has been one of the strongest position fives in pubs because he can swing teamfights on his own thanks to Death Ward. His kit is tailor-made against large, uncoordinated teamfights, as he can usually guarantee the full duration of his ultimate. Additionally, his team-wide heal is perfect to top up the whole team during the long engagements common in ranked.

Disruptor and Clockwerk are the best supports at punishing bad positioning from the enemy team. Clockwerk is a menace during the laning phase and can easily secure kills with his partner. After that, his Hookshot and Power Cog combo can adapt depending on whether he needs to disrupt threatening supports or keep a problematic core isolated.

Meanwhile, Disruptor’s Glimpse is a highly effective chase and zoning tool. He’s the bane of high-mobility heroes like Puck since he can easily keep them in place with Kinetic Field and Statis Storm.

Pugna, Lich, and Dazzle are defensive backline supports who can disrupt fights and save teammates when left uncontested. They’re even better in pubs because chaotic fights can drag on, letting them get more value from their abilities.

Finally, Silencer will always be meta in pub and pro play as long as Global Silence remains the same. The ability to completely shut down abilities globally every two minutes is too strong, allowing his team to win fights or even escape with just a single button.

One of the best ways to protect your core is by endlessly harassing or securing a kill against the enemy offlaner. Lane bullies like Warlock, Undying, Jakiro, Ogre Magi, Venomancer, and Marci are so lethal that it puts the enemy duo on the back foot in the early game.

Heroes like Bane, Vengeful Spirit, and Shadow Shaman have long crowd control and should look for ganks anytime their core abilities are off cooldown. Meanwhile, heroes like Phoenix, Snapfire, Abaddon, and Shadow Demon have powerful defensive capabilities or teamfighting tools. With these heroes, they should always have a TP on standby to save their cores.

Winter Wyvern always keeps the enemy team paranoid because one Winter’s Curse guarantees an easy kill while also keeping them fairly stacked for follow-up. Her Cold Embrace also nullifies any physical damage, which is perfect against meta cores right now, like Ursa and Legion Commander.

There are a few Dota 2 characters in this tier that are actually powerful in their current state, but require either player skill or team coordination to work. 

Oracle and Grimstroke are prime examples of this, as they both have kits that can actively grief teammates if they don’t understand what’s going on. However, with a coordinated duo partner or even a trio stack, they can shut down big plays from the enemy team.

In Dota 2 ranked games, the supports are usually pressured to pick first, as the cores want to protect their picks. If ever you get a chance to pick a hard support during the second phase, there are many counter picks available (more than a soft support) that can ruin the enemy core’s game. 

For example, Ancient Apparition is the perfect anti-healing support that can negate heroes who heavily rely on heals or healing allies, such as Huskar and Abaddon. 

With less than 1% pick rate across all brackets, Chen is one of the least represented heroes in pubs, yet he continues to be omnipresent in pro games. The skill ceiling is incredibly high, but specialists can take over the game, using dominated creeps to gank and pressure objectives on their own.

Earth Spirit, Tinker, and Nyx Assassin are other heroes where dedicated players can stomp in ranked, but anything less than a skilled pilot will succumb to the execution tax. Most of the heroes in this tier feel weak in the current patch, with below-average win rates to reflect that. 

However, there are also heroes here who are solid overall, but are better suited as soft support since they’re less effective without more resources and a core item. Heroes like Batrider, Tusk, and Lion need good timing on Blink Dagger before they lose their important mid-game timing. 

Treant Protector is the victim of being the shadow of his former strength, while also not working well in the current meta. He’s still a lane bully with decent heals, but his ultimate, Overgrowth, is easily sidestepped or negated with the common heroes currently in the meta. Additionally, healing or healing amplification items aren’t at the best spot right now, further making him weaker.

Io and Naga Siren, while both are contested in pro play, again fail in an uncoordinated environment. They are too reliant on their teammates to make plays and be more aggressive, while also possessing abilities that can straight-up grief without a plan. Want to see how they compare to other heroes? Read our encompassing Dota 2 ranks feature next.