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2 Votes

A public gamer's guide to Dazzle

January 15, 2013 by Octavian the Scholar
Comments: 6    |    Views: 10455    |   


Pub Dazzling

DotA2 Hero: Dazzle




Hero Skills

Poison Touch

2 4 5 7 14

Shallow Grave

3 8 10 13

Shadow Wave

1 9 12 15

Bad Juju

6 11 16

Talents

17 18


A public gamer's guide to Dazzle

Octavian the Scholar
January 15, 2013


A Foreword

This is my first guide ever, so constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. This is a guide I have built based on many pub games with Dazzle, my favorite hero. I may not have as much experience as some others, but this build has brought me enough success to be worth something to someone else (I hope!).

Picking Dazzle

Dazzle is a superb lane supporter and babysitter that is always a good pick when one is needed. Unlike most lane supports, however, Dazzle actually scales well into the late game with his powerful and useful abilities. A good time to pick Dazzle would be:

-Your team has no supports

-You have a carry that needs a good lane partner

-Axe is not on the enemy team

-Huskar is on your team

-Your team needs a dedicated ward b!#ch

-The carries you have are very squishy

Bad times to pick Dazzle would be:

-Axe IS on the enemy team

-Your team already has enough supports / ward b!#ches

The rationale behind that Axe comment is probably already known to some of you, but will be explained in the next chapter for those who don't.

The Skills


Dazzle's first skill, Poison Touch, has a rather interesting mechanic behind it. At levels 1 and 2, Poison Touch simply slows the target for a short time, then deals dot damage for a longer time. When used with another slowing hero like Drow Ranger or Venomancer you can possibly get easy first blood, but other than that it has little use. So why level it first? At levels 3 and 4, once the slow wears off, the target is stunned! This makes catching up to fleeing enemies or throwing off pursuers a breeze, meaning the sooner you level up Poison Touch, the sooner you can start setting up kills and ganks.

Shallow Grave, Dazzle's second skill, is my personal favorite of his. To put it simply, Dazzle makes anyone invincible for 5 seconds(ALMOST invincible). Leveling this skill simply increases the range and decreases cooldown and manacost, and since you will be in close proximity to a teammate in the laning phase, you won't need to max this skill except under the worst conditions. This has a very situational use and a long cooldown at lower levels, meaning you may need to choose who lives and who dies in an encounter (This happens more often than you think.), or you could use it on yourself or a teammate to bravely towerdive without fear! It's your call. Now as I mentioned, You may want to avoid picking Dazzle if the enemy team has picked Axe, and this is why: Axe's ultimate Culling Blade applies a debuff to the target before the damage; So, if you shallow graved someone on the brink of death so they can escape, Axe won't have that and kill right through it with Culling Blade.

Shadow Wave is somewhat similar to Omniknight's heal, in that it heals allies and damages enemies. The mechanic is slightly different however. Shadow Wave will heal the target unit but also any other allied units close enough for it to chain to, up to 5. The damage dealt is a in a somewhat small AOE, and stacks with every unit healed. You would need quite a few units surrounding the target you wish to hurt in order to deal substantial damage, and since it can only be used on allied targets, this cant be really be used offensively unless you have a creep wave backing you up. This is more a healing spell with a offensive twist than anything else. As such, you should put a level in this right away, then leave it for awhile (If your team needs healing, get an Urn ASAP.). Also be weary when using this when on a teammate who is about to kill an enemy, as you could potentially deal the last bit of damage and steal the kill!

This ultimate should be taken at the usual 6-11-16 as it can work wonders in nearly all situations. This spell will give any ally in the AOE plus 1 armor per second, and any enemy -1 armor per second. With every level there is an increase in duration as well as the AOE. It also has a very low cooldown of 40 seconds, meaning you could essentially spam this ult to prevent enemies from ever gaining an upper hand in a fight. Mostly, you want to use it in teamfights, so you will gradually gain the upper hand if the fight goes on long enough. It can also be quite useful in a gank, as lone enemies with rapidly melting armor are easy to kill quickly and the armor buff will help keep your teammates from suffering any counterattacks. Versatility is what makes this ult one of the most potent in the game.

Items

Dazzle does not need much to be effective in the starting stages, so buying both the courier AND the wards will allow more fragile supports (Read: Crystal Maiden) to buy items they need to lane better.
Upgrading the courier is also not a bad idea, but you should buy a Magic Stick before doing that.

Boots of Speed are ideal early game as Dazzle is rather slow, but an item I insist on getting is the Urn. The reason for this is to supplement the lack of levels put into Shadow Wave, but also as it can be used offensively, and Dazzle can effectively kill enemies on his own with the urn, Poison Touch, Weave Armor, and a Medallion of Courage. This combo is deceptively strong and I have killed more than a few cocky heroes who thought they could take on Dazzle 1 v 1. If you only wish to support, then refer to my Items to Consider box.

On that note, I often debate with myself whether to go with Phase Boots or Arcane Boots. If you plan to get Eul's then Arcane is preferred, since Eul's speed boost is enough to get around with. Otherwise, pick up Phase Boots.

The Phases of the Game

As stated above, early game is about giving your team as much of a clear edge as you possibly can. Buying wards, upgrading the courier, and allowing your carry last hits in laning. Your priority should be focused on harassing enemies with auto attacks and keeping your lane partner happy and healthy.

By the midgame mark (About 20 minutes in), you should have boots, a wand, and the Urn of Shadows. You should have at least one level in all your skills, which means it's time to watch out for team engagements. I recommend sticking to your most important teammate like glue in this phase, to keep him from dying and to give him the space he needs to be effective. This can be a matter of preference, but there are some heroes who stand out:

Huskar may be the best possible choice for two reasons: Shallow Grave and Berserker's Blood. Huskar gets higher DPS the closer he is to death, so what if he could be at ONE HP and yet be completely unkillable for, Oh say, 5 seconds?

This actually applies to any hero with a powerful game changing nuke, but Tidehunter is just a good example. These heroes are important to keep alive TO A POINT. As grim as it may sound, once they get their ult off, they aren't as important as a hero like Phantom Assassin or Outworld Destroyer

Atop all of that, keep in mind that if someone is not already, you should be warding all the useful places and keeping lanes pushed out.

By the late game, you should have every item you need. At this point, you need to invest the rest of your money in support items. TP Scrolls, Dust, Smoke, Wards, anything your team needs to gain an advantage. Stick with them in every teamfight, apply your powerful buffs and debuffs, and keep in mind that a carry's life is more important than your own, so pass using shallow grave on yourself to escape unless you are the only one who needs it at that moment. A useful baiting trick I have found is using Smoke to conceal all your team but one teammate or yourself (We will refer to this person as "bait") who then acts very gankable. When the bait is jumped, merely cast shallow grave on the bait, and proceed to smoke gank the unsuspecting enemies with the rest of your team. A final priority of Dazzle's is to push lanes. By this time, Shadow Wave will have negligible effect on heroes, but can still very effectively kill creep waves.

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