Support Alchemist (6.80)

He's not really suited to "Hard" Carrying because he doesn't scale into the Late Game, like most Hard Carries do. The closest thing he has to a Hard Carry ability is the BAT Reduction from Chemical Rage.

The only reason to play him as a Position 1 is to quickly out-Farm the other Team and win in the Mid-Game.

He works as a Support because even without Farm, he can provide AoE Armour Reduction and a 4 second Stun as early as Lvl2. Acid Spray also works as either a Zoning tool to get rid of Offlnaers, or a Farming tool to get a fast Medallion of Courage/ Mekansm/whatever by Farming Ancients/Jungle.

I agree about him midding (in fact I'd put Alch mid over Dragon Knight tbh) I'm saying leave supporting to supports-
I'd rather see him bashing faces in harder when it's needed.

Alch, as far as I can tell, is pretty strong at almost all points between the mid game and an ancient being destroyed. He doesn't really fall off, and watching him stun lock someone with Basher never gets old.

Although, as I said, never played Alch support- barely even played him in general, so these are all opinion-based observations.

Support Alchemist actually had a lot of potential, since his Unstable Concoction + Acid Spray + Medallion of Courage combo would deal equal to or more damage than any a "setup + Split Earth" combo; now that he's been nerfed, especially his night vision, I think he will be a little less useful but still a major choice for competitive games. Don't forget he can also farm ancients even as a support thanks to the acid and his ultimate, and that survivability isn't a problem at all past level 6.

As for the mid Alchemist, I actually think he's pretty decent because, much like Batrider, he can zone enemies out with the acid and get easy last hits thanks to the armor reduction; his ganking rotations also have a lot of impact and he can make up for the lack of farm with his third skill. You can still play him as a hard carry if you want, but I actually think his potential as a mid game Hero gets wasted this way, and not vice versa as you say. Still, he's actually pretty good playing all roles (even though maxing out Greevil's Greed first is definitely, well, greedy: his stun has more impact in the mid game).

It's one of those things where I say it's viable, but probably not always a great idea-
I mean, Alch is one of the best carries in the game because late game he turns into a mega-boss and plays advanced whack-a-mole with your face, being capable of raping entire teams with his rage ability.
I have never seen him used as a support (so this is all opinion), but imho delegating that kind of raw power to a support role (I mean if he transitions into a hard carry mid-late game I suppose it's alright) seems kinda wasteful.
I mean yeah, it's reasonable to assume that other carries will be farmed as hell, but their potential has to play out as well, if not better, than an overfarmed Alchemist...
It can work, but it seems like cutting a steak with a butter knife.

Dragon Knight is one of the most used mid laners in the current meta; Beastmaster, Clockwerk, Timbersaw, Doom and Kunkka are other semi-common mids. Mid Alchemist can harass the enemy out of the lane with Acid Spray which, in turn, grants him easy last hits because of the armor reduction. The Bottle, a no-brainer for mid laners (aside from Invoker), will replenish your health after the harass damage.

why would you send a melee creep mid?
even invokers regular attacks will just drive you out

i remember when alche was played as a support most of the time in Dota 1

Great guide...everyone always laughs when i say support alch but this is a great way to play him

Perfect build, and I almost never say that to support builds.
I sometimes prefer going straight BKB instead of Blink Dagger, but I must admit it's too important not to be listed as a core item.