Dazzle
Dazzle the healing sage is one of Dota 2’s strongest defensive supports, featuring a wide array of healing abilities and saves that makes any team lucky to have him. Professionals have even been known to play Dazzle in the Mid-lane as a core position 2 semi carry. The hero, on the other hand, is almost always used as a position 5 hard support. His item build does not fluctuate much. However, Professionals level up the hero as we will soon discover, in a range of ways, often opting to hold on potential skill points as the situations unfold.
Dazzle’s skill set relies on careful positioning and situational utility. In this article we will cover how Professionals play Dazzle and the builds they choose to go for to ensure the greatest chance of victory.
5. Jerax’s Hard Support Dazzle Build
Jerax is one of Dota 2’s longest-standing professionals, currently playing for Evil Geniuses. He is a seasoned Dota 2 player, having built a strong forte in support and is regarded as one of the best support players in the world. In this gameplay video, we will take a look at Jerax’s build and how he chooses items to best complement his team.
Jerax’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 2 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 3 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 4 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 5 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 6 - R - Bad Juju
Level 7- E - Shadow Wave
Level 8 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 9 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 10 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 11 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 12 - R - Bad Juju
Level 13 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 14 - Right Talent
Jerax’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes, 2 Healing Saves, 2 Branches, Magic Stick, Mango and Sentry Ward
Dazzle is a very powerful safelane hard support at level 1. As such, he wants to abuse his early laning stage as much as possible to ensure that his carry feels comfortable. This is achieved through a high amount of consumables that make Jerax have less down time and more sustain in the lane.
6 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Jerax’s first noticeable item of choice is Boots of Speed as it gives him better positioning and should be picked up on every hero.
13 Minutes: Arcane Boots, Magic Wand and Infused Raindrops
Dazzle casts a lot of spells and is usually not the initiator. As such, he does not usually require Tranquil Boots as he is usually found in the back line, defensively buffing his allies and casting his spells. Infused Raindrops help Jerax sustain his mana regeneration. Additionally, it helps deal with and potentially survive the enemy Queen of Pain, whose job is to pounce on the backlines.
As you can see, Dazzle does not require many items in order to be effective. The most crucial thing for the hero is to stay behind his team and support them defensively from the back line.
4. Solo’s Hard Support Dazzle Build
Solo from Navi shows us the potential for Dazzle to be not just a defensive support but a semi-reliable damage dealer when paired up with the right heroes. He offers a huge amount of sustain, making games that are even equal in kills and net worth look heavily one-sided.
Solo’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 2 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 3 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 4 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 5 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 6 - R - Bad Juju
Level 7- E - Shadow Wave
Level 8 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 9 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 10 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 11 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 12 - R - Bad Juju
Level 13 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 14 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - Left Talent
Level 18 - R - Bad Juju
Solo’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes, Branch, Magic Stick, Mango, Healing Salve and Faerie Fire
Once again we can see how potent Dazzle is in the lane, opting for a lot of consumables at level one to ensure that he can trade effectively with the enemy offlaners. However, Lycan does prove to be a very powerful offlaner, especially with his wolves early game, resulting in Solo losing his life.
2 Minutes: Clarity and Tangoes
After his death, Solo teleports back into lane with a new set of Tangoes to help his carry and a Clarity for extra mana sustain.
5 Minutes: Infused Raindrops and Wards
The Infused Raindrops are a nice pick up for Dazzle as he is not only able to complement his mana regeneration, but his survivability and health regeneration as well due to the potency of Shadow Word as an effective healing ability.
7 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Boots of Speed are core on any hero in Dota
11 Minutes: Arcane Boots
Arcane Boots offer Dazzle a lot more use, providing not only mana regeneration, but an ability to convert the mana he restores directly into health through Shadow Wave and his ultimate. The Arcane Boots can also be disassembled at a later time to build into other core items as well as be upgraded into Guardian Greaves later on depending on the situation at hand.
24 Minutes: Force Staff
Solo builds items which his team needs. In this case it is a Force Staff as it is a core item that enables him and his team to kite the enemy Razor, as well as reposition his team mates during Treant’s Overgrowth. As such, the Dire team and Solo are able to push tower after tower with little resistance due to the incredible sustain and push potential coming from the Dire team, resulting in a fairly early victory.
3. Dubu’s Hard Support Dazzle Build
In this game, we can see more of a stomp even though it was a relatively rough situation in the bottom lane. Dubu also optimizes for items that his team requires, and runs around the map providing as much sustain for his allies as he can.
Dubu’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 2 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 3 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 4 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 5 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 6 - R - Bad Juju
Level 7- E - Shadow Wave
Level 8 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 9 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 10 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 11 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 12 - R - Bad Juju
Level 13 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 14 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - Right Talent
Level 18 - R - Bad Juju
Level 20 - Right Talent
Dubu’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes and Null Talisman
In this game Dubu opens up with a Null Talisman and a point in Shadow Wave as he knows the enemy Keeper of the Light can out maneuver him due to his higher movement speed and cast range. The Null Talisman makes Dubu trade better as well as give him some mana regeneration which allows him to sustain instances of Shadow Word for him and his allies. With this build, we can see Dubu not requiring any extra consumables and be self-sustaining in lane.
5 Minutes: Infused Raindrops and Wards
Once again, Infused Raindrops are a nice pick up for Dazzle as he is not only able to complement his mana regeneration, but his survivability and health regeneration. With the Raindrops and his Null Talisman, Dubu is able to keep on top of his mana, rarely going back to the fountain and being very present around the map as we can see with the engagement at the river starting at 7:45.
9 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Boots of Speed are core on any hero in Dota.
10 Minutes: Magic Wand
Magic Wand is a strong pick up on most Dota 2 heroes.
15 Minutes: Arcane Boots
Arcane Boots are just the natural choice of upgraded boots for Dazzle. Professionals rarely build any other Boots on the hero.
21 Minutes: Force Staff
Dubu builds a Force Staff for this game as it is once again a good repositioning tool against the opponents’ Nature Prophet and Treant Protector. We can see the item’s effectiveness at 22:45 where it just barely saves his life.
32 Minutes: Lotus Orb
Dubu opts for a Lotus Orb as there are multiple debuffs to dispel off. The item also provides some decent stats which help him sustain his team mates even more.
2. Cr1t’s Hard Support Dazzle Build
In this game, we can see more of a stomp even though it was a relatively rough situation in the bottom lane. Dubu also optimizes for items that his team requires, and runs around the map providing as much sustain for his allies as he can.
Cr1t’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 2 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 3 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 4 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 5 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 6 - R - Bad Juju
Level 7- E - Shadow Wave
Level 8 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 9 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 10 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 11 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 12 - R - Bad Juju
Level 13 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 14 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - Left Talent
Level 18 - R - Bad Juju
Cr1t’s Item Build:
First Buy: 2 Tangoes, 2 Branches and a Wind Lace
Cr1t recognises that he is against a Skywrath Mage in lane whose movement speed is very high early game. Cr1t aims to match that with an early Wind Lace and an extra set of Tangoes to ensure he does not get bullied out in lane.
3 Minutes: Healing Slave and a Mango
Being against a highly aggressive offlane, Cr1t ferries himself a Healing Salve to ensure that he can get himself back to fighting health. We can see the Salve being extra useful at 4:20, allowing him to continue trading in lane.
6 Minutes: Magic Stick
It would be foolish for any player not to purchase a Magic Stick when laning against a Skywrath and Bounty Hunter who control the early game with their high damage and spammable spells early game.
8 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Boots of Speed are core on any hero in Dota.
10 Minutes: Arcane Boots
Arcane Boots are just the natural choice of upgraded boots for Dazzle, helping Cr1t sustain his healing throughout team fights as well as when farming.
16 Minutes: Aether Lens
Disassembling his Arcane Boots, Cr1t goes for an Aether Lens that not only assists with his mana regeneration, it gives him the ability to position himself further back from the enemy so that he doesn’t get picked off by the opponent’s wide array of catch abilities. We can see the benefit of this item at the team fight 23:30, where he is able to stand behind his team, casting ability after ability with little the enemy team can do to abuse his superior positioning.
22 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Aghanim’s Shard is an extremely powerful pick up on Dazzle as it provides him with an AOE disable early into the game.
25 Minutes: Blink Dagger
As his team is extremely ahead now, Cr1t is able to build greedier items like the Blink Dagger which not only increases his mobility and positioning, it also makes him a lot harder to find and kill in fights as he is able to Blink in and cast Shallow Grave from an incredible range away. The Blink Dagger is an uncommon pick for Dazzle, but a powerful item if your team does not require any other saves or utility such as a Glimmer Cape or Force Staff.
1. Fly’s Hard Support Dazzle Build
The final game we have in this article is Fly’s Hard Support Dazzle who once again, provides his team with incredible amounts of sustain and survivability against the opponent’s greedy lineup.
Fly’s Skill Allocation:
Level 1 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 2 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 3 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 4 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 5 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 6 - R - Bad Juju
Level 7 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 8 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 9 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 10 - W - Shallow Grave
Level 11 - E - Shadow Wave
Level 12 - R - Bad Juju
Level 13 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 14 - Q - Poison Touch
Level 15 - Right Talent
Level 16 - Left Talent
Fly’s Item Build:
First Buy: Tangoes, 2 Branches, Sentry Ward, Mango and a Wind Lace
Fly’s only noticeable starting item choice is the Wind Lace which gives him an edge when trading against the Techie’s long ranged attack and abilities. It also gives Fly a bit more wiggle room when trying to survive. Despite this, the enemy has very high kill potential in lane and he ends up feeding the enemy offlaner.
1 Minutes: Tangoes and Mango
Fly immediately ferries himself an extra set of Tangoes to deal with the high harassment coming out from the enemy Techies.
4 Minutes: Infused Raindrops
As you can see now, Infused Raindrops is one of the best early game consumables to purchase in the early game to not only allow high to survive potentially engagements, but gives him some passive mana regeneration.
5 Minutes: Magic Stick
Magic Stick Provides Fly with some extra sustain during fights.
8 Minutes: Boots of Speed
Boots of Speed are core on any hero in Dota.
11 Minutes: Arcane Boots
By now, it is evident that Arcane Boots are the best Hard Support boots for Dazzle.
19 Minutes: Aghanim’s Shard
Hoping to end the game early, Fly opts for an Aghanim’s Shard as his first core item as it gives his team some extra disable fairly early into the game. His team also lacks disables, with only the Rubick’s Lift ability being a reliable source of stun. We can observe the potency of the item’s power at the 27:00 battle, where he is able to disable the enemy Marci and provide incredible amounts of save and sustain for his allies.
28 Minutes: Glimmer Cape
Glimmer cape is usually a core item picked up on Dazzle as it provides an additional save as well as tankiness against enemy magic dealers such as Morphling and Techies.
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