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Healing Salve
Tango
ClarityClarity
Ring of Protection
Animal Courier
Boots of Speed
Magic Stick
Ring of Basilius
Flying Courier
Arcane Boots
Magic Wand
Sange
Mekansm
Heart of Tarrasque
Sange and Yasha
Aghanim's Scepter
Dust of Appearance
Gem of True Sight
Observer Ward
Sentry Ward
Boots of Travel
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1 | 4 | 7 | 9 |  |
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3 | 12 | 13 | 14 |  |
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2 | 5 | 8 | 10 |  |
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6 | 11 | 16 |  |
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15 | 17 | 18 |
Greetings! This is my first guide written for Dota 2, and this is my personal play style for Omniknight. Omniknight is a versatile support who can very easily transition into a problem for the enemy team.
Pros
+ He has a heal, and some extra damage comes with it just to give your enemies the finger.
+ He has a BKB in skill form, a useful tool for escaping and the likes.
+ He has a passive slow to not only movement speed, but attack speed.
+ Pretty high base health. (You're not going to be tanking like Tidehunter, but you won't be swept of the map like a Sniper.)
+ Invaluable ultimate for team fights.
+ Doesn't have annoying voice files like Wraith King or Broodmother.
+ Looks pretty cool.
+ You still get kills so your team won't give you **** for being a support.
Cons
- No stun.
- Not the best movement speed. (Degen makes up for this when chasing)
- Purify doesn't deal too much damage until leveled.
- Skills have delays before casting.
- Melee.
Pretty good, eh? His pros far outweigh his cons, making him a good pick to round out a team.
Omniknight's skills are all more or less supporting skills, but they can be used for other methods.
Purification
Omniknight's first skill is an instant heal to a friendly that damages enemies around the target. In this build, Purification is used a lot on yourself in order to keep yourself alive and deal damage to your targets/pursuers. While you may desire to get greedy and heal yourself all the time, please remember that you have teammates. You are a support, after all.(If you are using the non-dedicated support build, spam this move on yourself all you like.) Purification can change the tide of a battle, keep yourself from death, or secure a well-needed kill. Purification is to be maxed early on, as the damage and healing grow with levels.
Repel
Repel is essentially a portable BKB. You target a friendly unit, and it gains immunity from spells for the duration. While this is a powerful tool, it is not the focus of the build. You will want to pick up one point in Repel early on, just to have it, but don't plan on using it too often. One of the most common mistakes that Omniknight players make is using Repel too soon. Remember, they gain immunity from all spells, even friendly. I've found myself multiple times dying because Repel prevented me from healing myself with aforementioned Purification. Use only when needed.
Degen Aura
This is a largely overlooked tool in Omniknight's arsenal, and is often overshadowed by his other two skills. The movement and attack speed slow are significant, especially when maxed, and are a core part of this build. It is great for ganks, as the movement slow will prevent targets from running away and will allow time for Purification to be used, and the attack slow will help to keep you alive. Maxed just after Purification, as it gains power with levels and grows from a minor nuisance into a large problem.
Guardian Angel
Last but certainly not least, we have Omniknight's wonderful ultimate, Guardian Angel. Not only does it earn bronze in the best skill name contest, (Requiem of Souls with silver, and Finger of Death taking the cake. Honorable mentions go to Divided We Stand, Coup De Grace, and Sanity's Eclipse. I always liked Viscous Nasal Goo, but that's none of my business.), but it also greatly benefits your team. Carry is desperately running away from battle at 50 health? Use Guardian Angel. Got surprised by a five-man gank? Use Guardian Angel. Already going to win a teamfight for sure but want to rub it in the other team' faces? You get the idea. Despite the pretty lengthy cool down, you'll have trouble finding a situation where this skill is not helpful. Use it as any other Omniknight build would, at the best time possible.
Well, now we move onto the items. If you've every actually played Dota 2, you know that items can make a huge difference in the play-style of a hero. The items this build uses change Omniknight from a simple support into a force to be reckoned with. I will be explaining all of the items that I have chosen here, in order for you to fully understand why I picked them specifically. (Note: Items written in blue are items only to be bought if you are playing the alternate build, where you are not the main support. Items written in green are to be only bought if you are playing the standard, main support build.)
Starting Items
These are items to be bought as soon as the game starts, and will give you a good start to work with.
Healing Salve: Excellent heal to get you out of sticky situations or keep you (or your carry) in the lane. Don't get hit.
Tango: Pretty much the same as the Healing Salve, except the healing is split into four uses. The regeneration rate is much slower, but getting hit won't dispel the effects, so you can continue to lane. Remember that you can use one of your tangos on a friendly hero, and it will give them one of them.(Use it as if they were the tree.)
Clarity: A staple for most magic-based heroes, essentially a really slow healing salve for your mana. Play more passively when you have these activated, as they last much longer than a healing salve and will dispel on a hit.
Ring of Protection: Gives +3 armor, a nice buff for early game. Mainly bought because it is one of the components of a Ring of Basilius, one of your early game items. If you have another item you would really like to get instead of this, go ahead, but I recommend picking this up.
Animal Courier: You're the support. Take one for the team.
Iron Branch: Best point value for cost of all item,("Bang for Your Buck", if you will), and are built into a Magic Wand. Will give you a little head start on the opposition.
Early Game Items
These items are to be bought directly after the horn sounds, and should (hopefully) be completed before the laning phase ends.
Boots of Speed: Every hero needs it, blah blah blah, if you don't buy them, you will be (literally) be left behind by your allies and enemies. You will also most likely be screamed at in another language by someone on your team.
Magic Stick: While not as imperative as the Boots of Speed, this item is picked up by most heroes. For only 200 gold, it can give you heals to mana and health that can be the difference between a close call and a respawn timer.
Ring of Basilius: This is an item that gives a buff to armor and mana regeneration in an area around you. It can be toggled on and off to give the buffs to nearby creeps as well, so turn it on if you want to push a lane and turn it off if you don't.
Flying Courier: See Animal Courier above.
Core Items
These items are the focus of this build, the "core". The laning phase should end pretty soon, if it hasn't already, so all of these items are OK to buy after it ends. Please note that it is unlikely that you get all of these items before the game ends, however I put all of them in Core Items because, in my mind, they are all equally important. Pick which ones you like to get first, although I highly recommend that you get the Arcane Boots and Magic Wand before the others.
Arcane Boots: A standard upgrade from Boots of Speed, and they will basically fix any mana problems that you previously had. A boost in mana every minute-ish is a great tool for this build. They only cost 900 to upgrade to from Boots of Speed, and the cost is very much worth it. (Please note: It took me a while to figure this out, but you can buy the Energy Booster from the Side Shop. So, if you are still laning, pick up the upgrade from the Side Shop and save yourself a potentially dangerous journey to the Secret Shop.
Magic Wand: Another standard upgrade, this increases the healing to health and mana of the Magic Stick. It costs 265 gold to upgrade to this, and it has saved me many times.(165 if you are playing the alternate build, where you already spent 100 of your starting gold on the two Iron Branches.
Sange: Sange is an item that gives an excellent boost of +10 damage straight up, and +16 strength.(Your primary attribute, therefor providing even more bonus damage, a total of +26 damage in all.) It also provides an ability called Lesser Maim, which, on hit, adds a chance to slow the target for 4 seconds. I find this item to be great for fights, as it increases your kill power significantly.
Mekansm: Along with Pipe of Insight, probably the most common supporting item in the game. It gives a heal and an armor buff to all friendlies around you, and can tip the scales in a teamfight. It also passively gives health regeneration to allies in an area around you. Trust me, if your teammates are good, they will love you for buying this.(Note: If another support has this item already, feel free to bump this to the bottom of your item list, and get another item earlier.)
Heart of Tarrasque: I swear, where do they make up these names? But, for real, this item is GODSEND. At level 25, you can take down a tower by yourself and come out with no injury. The health regeneration is amazing, although it is lost if you are hit by an enemy hero. However, if you are running away from an enemy, running towards an enemy, or simply taking a stroll through the jungle, your health will recover rapidly. Also, you get +45 strength. +45. That's a lot. And, as with Sange, Strength is your primary attribute. Adding a +45 damage. So, if you have both of those items, you get a grand total of +71 damage. Needless to say, you hit like a truck.
Everything Else
So, if you managed to earn and spend your way through 12,575 gold in items, kudos to you. Now what? Well, you buy this stuff.
Sange and Yasha: More buffs and stuff.
Aghanim's Scepter: Seriously though. I feel bad for the enemy team. If you bought everything leading up to this item, you have spent a total of 14,625 gold. You've got to be playing with them at this point. End it already.
Situational
This is the stuff you buy when you need it, it's not required by any means, but will be greatly appreciated if your team needs it.
Observer Ward: Buy it if no one else on your team will, if you don't know where to put them ask someone on your team.
Sentry Ward: Buy these if the enemy team has heroes who tend to initiate with invisibility, or are invisible most of the time.(Broodmother, Riki.) Don't put these near friendly towers, as towers already have this effect.
Dust of Appearance: Buy these if the enemy team has heroes who tend to escape with invisibility. (Templar Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Riki again, or anyone with a Shadow Blade or Silver Edge.) Unlike Sentry Wards, these do not linger in the area, but will reveal invisible units around you for a period of time and slow them.
Gem of True Sight:: This is an item that should pretty much only be bought if you are winning. This can be used to reveal invisible units around you constantly, and is useful against characters such as Riki and Broodmmother, who are invisible a lot of the time, and characters such as Techies who has invisible mines. Always remember, this item is one of the only two items in the game that drops on death. (The other being Divine Rapier, which, on paper, sounds like the most overpowered item in the game, but trust me, it is not.) Be very careful using this item.
Boots of Travel: If you are planning on buying this item, do not get it instead of the Arcane Boots. They are not very helpful until late game, but they can save matches if used correctly.(I remember a time where the enemy team was destroying our ancient, so I bought back, sold my Heart of Tarrasque, bought Boots of Travel, and teleported to a single creep in their base, destroyed their ancient and won the game.)
So, here we are. You got through that long list of items, or maybe you just skipped it. Who knows? But that's besides the point. Now, I'm going to talk about the actual gameplay of this build. I'll go through each phase of the game, and point out your main goals for each portion.
Early Game:
This build's early game is an aggressive one. Harass your opponents as much as possible, and heal your lane partner or yourself while in combat to tip the scales in your favor. (If you are soloing your lane, [which I don't personally recommend], you should heal yourself often while getting attacked to keep your enemies off you.) Make sure to keep your partner alive, and let them have slightly more farm than you. If you find yourself falling behind due to having a lane partner who needs farm, (Spectre, Phantom Assasin), focus on supporting your team more than being a fighting force. You will still be helping, just in a more indirect way.
Mid Game
By the time you enter the mid game phase, you should have completed your early game items and, ideally, should have Arcane Boots and a Magic Wand as well. In this phase, focus on being in every team fight to ensure that you have enough gold and xp to carry you into the late game. Stick close to enemies to slow them with Degen Aura, heal your teammates and yourself as needed. Always carry a Town Portal Scroll, as they can be used to quickly transport you to combat, provide quick escapes from death, and only cost a measly 50 gold. Chase enemies, as they will likely not be able to outrun you due to Degen Aura, and make sure that your team gains the upper hand for the late game.
Late Game
By now you have hopefully gotten most of your core items. This means that you can focus less on your gold income and more on winning. Push enemy towers and defend your own. Don't be afraid to use Purification often, as it can clear creep waves quickly and efficiently. Now would be a good time to pick up Boots of Travel, as they can secure victory if used correctly. If your team's carry is fighting against the opposing carry, use your skills to ensure your carry survives, and hopefully wins the fight in the process. Other than that, just go destroy their ancient. There's not much more help I can give.
In conclusion, Omniknight is an awesome semi-support who can make serious impacts on the game. His skills can all contribute to your team, and if he is played correctly, he is a force to be reckoned with. Have fun playing!
This is my first guide written for Dota 2, and any support would be greatly appreciated. Upvote and comment if you enjoyed the guide. Thanks for reading!
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