General Discussion[Guide Competition] A Touch of the Old Magic - A Dazzle Support Guide...

[Guide Competition][SIZE=18][color=#FF00FF] A Touch of the Old Magic![/COLOR][/SIZE] - A Support Dazzle Guide, by Burden on Society

[IMG]http://www.dotafire.com/images/hero/icon/dazzle.png[/IMG]

[SIZE=18][color=#FFBF00]Introduction:[/color][/SIZE]
Dazzle is a fairly versatile hero, with the ability to play many positions and several different roles.
In the right hands, Dazzle can be a fairly decent killing machine, and when a more traditional carry
is already picked, Dazzle can be the support that is needed to keep that hero alive until he/she is ready
to kill all and carry to the end.

[SIZE=18][color=#FFBF00]Skill Build:[/color][/SIZE]
I'm going to discuss my personal skill build that I use as a safe lane Dazzle support.

[SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Q - Poison Touch[/color][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]W - Shallow Grave[/color][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]E - Shadow Wave[/color][/SIZE]
[SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]R - Weave (Ultimate)[/color][/SIZE]

A lot of people see Dazzle as a healer and like to max out his E first. While, it does increase the
healing potential of the skill, it also increases the number of targets it jumps to. During early laning
phase, this can be dangerous as as support Dazzle, because, the [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shadow Wave[/color][/SIZE] will both heal your ally and
also damage your enemy and enemy creeps. If you level up [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shadow Wave[/color][/SIZE] too fast in early game, you could
end up stealing a lot of your carry's farm and pushing out the lane. Even if it's unintentional, it could
hurt your team in the end if you're taking a lot of last hits while trying to provide an ally heal.

I like to max out [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Poison Touch[/color][/SIZE] and [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shallow Grave[/color][/SIZE] first, as these are going to be your real bread and butter
skills as a support Dazzle.

Q, E, W, W, Q, R, Q, E, W, W, R, Q, E, E, (stat), R...

As you can see, I maximize my Poison Touch and Shallow Grave first, while making sure I can still throw a heal
out now and then.

[SIZE=18][color=#FFBF00]Item Choices:[/color][/SIZE]

Dazzle's ultimate increases ally armor while also decreasing enemy armor. With this, Dazzle can help melt down
even the toughest and tankiest heroes. Dazzle's [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Poison Touch[/color][/SIZE] is also not blocked by any type of additional armor
or armor passives, ie, Vanguard, or Kraken Shell. In earmly game, a good [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Poison Touch[/color][/SIZE], even at only level 1, can help
get a first blood if the enemy is even slightly out of position.

With his armor redution abilities, it's best to accentuate this with other armor reduction items.

[SIZE=18][color=#FFBF00]Early Game Items:[/color][/SIZE]

[SIZE=14][color=#FFFF00]Medallion of Courage[/color][/SIZE]
Wards
Dust (if needed)
TP Scrolls (so you can get to your ally lanes quickly if you see someone in trouble)

With an early [SIZE=14][color=#FFFF00]Medallion of Courage[/color][/SIZE], you can ensure that your enemies melt real fast. Just keep in mind, Dazzle is squishy
and when you use this, you're putting yourself at a greater risk of dying, so make sure you stay in the back.

[SIZE=14][color=#FFFF00]Medallion of Courage[/color][/SIZE], followed up by a [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Poison Touch[/COLOR][/SIZE] and then maybe a quick burst of [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shadow Wave[/COLOR][/SIZE] damage will be sure to drop
any early game opposing team memebers.

I always get [SIZE=14][color=#2E64FE]Arcane Boots[/color][/SIZE] on Dazzle as well, this allows you to spam some heals out, and make sure you always
have enough mana to throw a [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shallow Grave[/COLOR][/SIZE] on your over aggressive carry that decided it was worth diving a tier one
tower to get first blood.

Other good items on Dazzle are:
[SIZE=14][color=#2E64FE]Mekansm, Drums of Endurance, and Force Staff[/color][/SIZE] to get your our an ally out of harms way, or if on the attack,
to push yourself forward so you can land a Poison Touch while your teammates catch up in order to get the kill.

With Dazzle's Weave, Medallion, Poison Touch, and then some burst damage from Shadow Wave, you can surely bring down
a single target very quickly, or in team fight situations, you can always have an upper hand.

If as Dazzle you're wracking up all sorts of assist gold and your team is stomping all over, and you're maintaining
all the usual support items as well, a [SIZE=14][color=#FF0040]Desolator[/color][/SIZE] works wonders.

Dazzle can become the ultimate armor melting support hero, and can lead the way on destroying the enemy's
confidence that they're tough enough to handle your hits. When your teammates are in trouble, throw a [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shallow Grave[/COLOR][/SIZE] on them
so they can back out quickly while also making sure to toss them a quick Wave heal. During [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shallow Grave[/COLOR][/SIZE],
one can still take damage or get stunned, but they can't be killed. If the other team has no stuns available,
a [SIZE=14][color=#FF4000]Shallow Grave[/COLOR][/SIZE] and a TP will ensure an easy escape. Sometimes it's just enough to finish off an enemy as well.
This is also why this is an important skill to max out early. Increasing the cast range and decreasing the cooldown means
more clutch saves as Dazzle.

[SIZE=18][color=#FFBF00]Laning:[/color][/SIZE]

It's pretty simple as a Support Dazzle. Early game, make sure your carry is able to farm safely.
Asist with Poison Touch and provide a heal now and then. Dazzle has a great attack animation and a decent
range, so make sure to keep up the harass on the enemy and keep them from farming or denying your carry's farm.
During mid-game, make sure you have a TP to get to all the team fights and toss your ult on everyone so you get armor
buff and your enemy gets debuffed before you start fighting. Keep an eye on everyone and give a Shallow Grave
to whoever is about to die, but, usually want to save it for a team fighting carry, because they need to have their
late game survival items.

When it comes time to Roshan, be sure to use your Medallion on him to make sure he dies even faster.

A great carry to team up with a support Dazzle is Slardar. When you combine MoC, Weave, Poison Touch, Slardar's Ultimate,
and his stuns and bashes, you usually have a very quick kill on just about anyone you want dead.

[SIZE=18][color=#FFBF00]Problems:[/color][/SIZE]

Once the other team starts getting BKBs, Dazzle's usefulness as a support starts to drop off a bit, but, he's still good to heal
and Shallow Grave the ally team. Ally Survival is more critical than helping kill the other team, and don't forget Medallion of Courage
goes through BKB, so at least ally right clicks will still deal more damage even if you can't land a Poison Touch yet.

In conclusion, Dazzle is not a support to be taken lightly. With his recent buffs and his ability to reduce enemy armor, and get off slows and mini
stuns from Poison Touch, Dazzle can quickly become a real nuicanse to the enemy team. He will quickly become the focus of team fights
as his heal and Shallow Grave are often the skills needed to ensure team survival. SO, you may become the focus kill of the other team,
but, in the mean time, your death can mean the other team loses 2-3 in every team fight because they spent so much time ignoring the right clicker
smashing on their heads.

...

Edit:

Updated with colors and stuff...