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When playing support it can be slightly tricky to decide which items to pick for your team: As a support, usually your playstyle and item progression is more reactive than proactive. That means that you adjust to the decision of your allies and enemies more often than the other way around.
This guide aims at providing general rules-of-thumb for item progression decision-making assuming you are playing a support that gets at least some farm: In professional games at least 1 support is usually running around the whole game with just a 
Magic Wand, 
Boots of Speed, 
Town Portal Scroll and 
Observer Wards. Obviously, this guide is not meant for that kind of play. For this kind of support, see e.g. Sando's guide.
"Ask not what your team can do for you but what you can do for your team."
This is the general guideline that should dictate your entire game and the one and only question you should keep in mind. As a support, your build is usually not as fixed as for the carries thus you can cover up a deficit in your team to some degree with the right item choices.
The chapters with in starting / early game items is aimed at players who are unsure of what to buy in the first minutes of the game. If this is too familiar for you, feel free to jump straight to the "Mid-game support items" chapter.
This guide is a bit work-in-progress, constructive feedback is most appreciated.
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(1-3)
/
(1-3)
or
Observer Wards or they have invisible heroes, also get 
Sentry Wards. If your play is on the "next level", 
Smoke of Deceit is also a potential buy for some nice early ganks/Roschan.
(1-3)
or
(1-3) Ring of Protection or ironwood branches comes down to this: Are you making a 
Ring of Basilius as (one of) the first item(s)? If yes, then I recommend Ring of Protection for extra damage resistance, otherwise take the "gg branches" that will go into a 
Magic Stick or 
Mekansm. Ring of Basilius gives you a total of +3 armor, + 6 damage and +0.65 mana regen. Your lanemate gets +2 armor and the mana regen from the aura as well. Note that this aura will not stack with the one of 
Ring of Aquila or 
Vladmir's Offering. Ring of Basilius early: Ring of Aquila anyways (
Luna, 
Gyrocopter)
Omniknight, 
Enigma or necrolyte, rushing a 
Soul Ring is valid and you can even buy the recipe as a starting item instead of RoB / gg branches.
Animal Courier must be upgraded to Flying Courier ASAP if your mid is going for a 
Bottle. Period. 2. priority is buying a new set of Observer Wards at the ~5 min mark and getting them out to you on the Flying Courier: There has to be at least one rune spot warded as constantly as long as your mid hero is farming on the mid lane. Otherwise he will waste time guessing whether the rune spawned top or bottom at the 2:00/4:00/6:00/...18:00 minute mark or miss runes.
(if making one)
(if you remember to use it in fights, otherwise skip this item) Sentry Wards or some other form of detection. You can find out more about how to counter the different invisible heroes in this guide by Sando.
Arcane Boots to keep your/team mana up, Bracer for survivability (can be upgraded to 
Drum of Endurance later) and Mekansm for team heal which is crucial especially in the early stages of the team fights.
Headdress or 
Tranquil Boots if
Ring of Regen from the disassembled Tranquil Boots can be used for either Mekansm, 
Force Staff or 
Pipe of Insight, thus rarely going to waste. Arcane Boots if Bracer or 
Buckler if
Lion, 
Faceless Void)
Mekansm (aka "mek") is the epitome of DOTA 2 support items: For 2306 gold you get +5 all stats, +5 armor, +4 HP aura regen and can heal nearby units for 250 HP every 45 seconds. What many players seem to forget how much survivability it gives to you: +5 STR = +95 HP, 5 armor = +30 % effective HP and +250 burst heal. That means that this item is preferable on ranged heroes over a 
Vanguard: Ranged heroes only get 20 damage block (vs +30 % EHP from mek), +250 HP (vs mek's 95 HP + 250 burst heal), 6 HP regen (vs mek's 4 aura regen)- while giving nothing to your team. Simply put: in most cases, mek gives more to you as well as your team if you are ranged. This is why in pro matches tanky ranged heroes such as 
Viper often get this as their 1. item. Mek should be looked at as your first major item especially if:
Ravage, 
Chaotic Offering, 
Poison Nova, 
Illuminate, etc.) Mekansms on the same team: The auras won't stack and the heal won't affect units that have been mek'd in the past 25 seconds!
Mekansm, Flying Courier and Observer Wards. Getting 1-2 items from the following list will help your team greatly: Mekansm or you don't have the money to get there:
Medallion of Courage gives you +50 % mana regen, +6 armor and can actively reduce one enemy hero's armor by -6. When using the active, you will also loose -6 armor so you are effectively getting +/- 0 armor from the item. The - armor is really useful especially on low-armor heroes or Roshan.
Vengeful Spirit, teams with 
Alchemist, 
Templar Assassin, 
Shadow Fiend, etc.)
Ursa)
Silencer)
Urn of Shadows is an item that I've really started to like: For a mere 875 gold you get +6 strength (= +114 HP), +50 % mana regen and can heal allies for 400 HP or damage enemies for 150 HP every 10 seconds (if you have charges). Usually this item is recommended for gankers but it is great on almost any support - if no-one else has it already. Mekansm substitute / addition
Crystal Maiden would fit the bill perfectly.
Pudge, 
Spirit Breaker)
Drum of Endurance is a great upgrade to Bracer, offering +9 to all stats and an aura of +5 % movement speed and +5 attack speed. Has 4 active charges that can be used to boost the movement speed to +15 % and attack speed to +15. Pudge) or chain stuns Pudge or to (hopefully) live through multiple stuns. Much of Pudge's effectiveness relies on the enemy being so squishy that they die to the 
Meat Hook + 
Dismember combo. Drum of Endurance only has 4 charges, save it for when running after/away from an enemy and not during teamfights. The extra 5 + 10 % movement speed often really makes a difference between life and death.
Force Staff is a great item that gives +10 int, +3 HP regen and you can actively force any hero within 800 range to move instantly 600 units in the direction it is facing. It has many, many uses such as:
Linken's Sphere Viper, 
Drow Ranger, 
Venomancer ;)
Bloodseeker or 
Keeper of the Light: You force movement while enemy is 
Ruptured or 
Mana Leaked if they stand still.
Queen of Pain, lycanthrope or Spirit Breaker: They most likely will still catch up to you
Eul's Scepter of Divinity is also great: You get + 150 % mana regen, + 10 int and + 35 movement speed. The active cyclones you or enemy heroes (cannot cyclone allies) for 2.5 seconds, during which the unit is invulnerable.
Night Stalker, 
Bounty Hunter or 
Riki Silencer, windrunner) Spirit Breaker (before he gets 
Black King Bar): You can cyclone him in the middle of his charge to interrupt it. Then a) kill him, b) run away or c) run to the woods and teleport out.
Magic Missile), if you get initated on or if you are just about to die (assuming, of course that the team will come to your help in ~2 seconds).
Pipe of Insight is an often neglected item that is great for any team facing magic nukers such as 
Lich, Keeper of the Light, 
Zeus, etc. It gives you and all nearby units a 400 HP spell shield for 10 seconds. You get +11 HP regen and + 30 % magic resistance from the item as well.
Rod of Atos is a fantastic item on paper, giving you +25 int, +325 HP and an active 4 second slow of 60 % with a massive 1200 range! The stats are much more than the components themselves give and there is no money wasted on any recepie.
Vladmir's Offering is a strange support item as most supports are ranged and thus will not benefit from the lifesteal. However, besides that this item gives you & team +5 armor and +15 damage (along with some minor mana and HP regen) which is never bad: In pro matches this item is sometimes picked up even on all-ranged teams! Ursa nor lycanthrope)
Abaddon would be a perfect vlad's carrier) Ring of Basilius and have an extra Ring of Regen
Necronomicon aka necrobook aka puzzlebox gives you +8/12/16 Strength
Pugna, Venomancer, Keeper of the Light, Enigma)
Warlock's 
Upheaval, 
Bane's 
Fiend's Grip, 
Shadow Shaman's 
Shackles): Summon your necroes and have them fight for you while you are busy channeling
Gem of True Sight is quite an important but often neglected item that people often don't want to buy as it costs 900 and will drop on death. It will pay itself off quite fast if the enemy is actively warding and/or has invisible heroes: 
Dust of Appearance costs 180 per pair, Sentry Wards 200 per pair and an enemy that got away because you had no detection is several hundred gold lost. A lost fight due to invisible enemies taking your team by surprise could even cost you the game. Abaddon) Observer Wards a lot: This usually means your team gets ganked a lot
Blink Dagger is an extremely useful item on disabler/AOE supports besides the obvious 
Earthshaker, 
Tidehunter and 
Sand King. Heroes such as 
Rubick, Lion, Bane, Venomancer and Shadow Shaman can position themselves properly in fights: Use the item to either initiate, follow up when your main initatior goes in or to coutner-initate. Counter-initaion here means staying back behind your teammates, waiting for the fight to start and then blinking in closer. This is particularly useful if the enemy has AOE disablers such as Tidehunter or Enigma so that you don't get caught and bursted in the initial stun and damage. Blink Dagger heroes - you can stay back and counter-initiate safely
Aghanim's Scepter boosts the ultimate of many heroes. It also gives a nice boost of +10 to all stats as well as extra mana (+330) and HP (+390). It is great on certain supports but costs a lot. Black King Bar instead
Refresher Orb resets the cooldown of your spells once every 160 seconds as well as gives you +40 damage, +6 int, +200 % mana and +5 HP regen. Tidehunter)
Scythe of Vyse is the most obvious support luxury item: You get a 3.5 second hex that turns the enemy into a slow-moving pig (along with +10 stats and +100 % mana regen).
Anti-Mage, 
Weaver, 
Storm Spirit, Queen of Pain Black King Bar with long duration remaining on all heroes
Mystic Staff are close to 0
Shiva's Guard gives you +30 int and +15 armor and reduces the attack speed of enemies within 900 AOE by -40. The active arctic blast is an 719 AOE nuke that deals 200 damage and slows enemies hit by 40 % for 4 seconds.
Ghost Scepter gives you +7 to all stats and can turn you into ethereal form for 4 seconds. You cannot be physically attacked but will take +40 % magical damage. A great item to survive late-game as a support against major physical burst-damage dealers such as a well-fed Ursa or Templar Assassin. Zeus, Lion, 
Lina)
Heaven's Halberd is a weird but valid choice for many supports, often seen in pro matches. The +20 strength (a.k.a. +380 HP) and 25 % evasion adds a whole lot to your survivability. Also it is a "support" item as the active allows you to disarm a hero for 4 seconds (stops them from attacking but not from casting spells). Black King Bar or its duration is 4 seconds Scythe of Vyse or Pipe of Insight + HP boost item instead. If you just need survivability against physical damage only, Ghost Scepter is much cheaper.
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