Support Naga Siren

Introduction

Support Naga Siren is very underrated at the moment, with no help from the 5 carry mentality of seemingly every All Pick game. And while this build may not be burning through the opponents' HP with Radiance and Mana with Diffusal, support Naga still uses her spells to great efficiency. Furthermore, with her base 320 movespeed, great armor, and decent HP, you will find that she is far less squishy than some classic supports (Crystal Maiden, I'm looking at you). Just make sure to let your team know you're playing her as a support to avoid the flames of picking another carry.

Laning

Dual Lane

In a typical match, I would imagine top and bottom are your dual lanes and mid is solo. This isn't the best setup for Naga, since having the only support in that lane being melee can lead to trouble. Though, as long as you are not against a Sand King, and the farmer has a Stout / Poor Man's Shield, it should go fine. Note that this will typically work in either safe or hard lane, though safe is preferred since the first wave comes closer to your tower.

You don't want to play passively; if you do, you would gain more from choosing a ranged support who can harass the enemy. After all, doing a couple right clicks when the enemy comes up to last hit is better than doing none. Therefore, you can't pair Naga with anyone. The farmer should have some good damage in the first few levels that really capitalize on Naga's Ensnare. For example, Alchemist can charge up his stun to almost the full duration; start it as the net hits, and walk along the opponent for almost the full duration of the stun. Furthermore, Rip Tide's minus armor (and possibly Alchemist's Acid Spray) synergize really well with Unstable Concoction's physical damage.

Another good example would be Juggernaut. Blade Fury works incredibly well when the enemy is standing still. Note that this combination does less damage than CM-Jugg at level one, but Naga has much better survivability.

In both those cases, you are in a dual melee lane. Therefore, getting kills is important so you get an early lead and the opponents' harassment has much less impact. If the opponents realize they will just keep feeding and don't show up, stacking and pulling to make no wave will reach them and you get some farm, or pushing the tower are your best options.

Summary

• Use Ensnare to set up early kills in lane.
• If they leave, stack and pull or push their tower.

Tri Lane

Tri lane Naga is preferred and for good reason. The kill potential increases greatly with another support in the lane. In the typical game, it will be your tri lane vs a dual lane--this is a great situation. First of all, go for first blood. Naga and (Lina will be my example, though almost any other support who deals a decent amount of damage level 1 will work. Stuns are preferred) should stay hidden and wrap around to flank the enemy. Keep in mind Ensnare has a very long initiation range. Basically, chain your stun(s) with Ensnare and keep right clicking the target down. Make sure to block the opponent if it looks like they might get away, and ignore the other enemy.

From here, you want to alternate between pulling to deny exp and keeping the creeps toward your tower, and killing them when they leave their tower. If you are in an aggressive tri lane, then putting pressure on the tower is your best bet. If your lane manages to get a level advantage, you can even leave and gank the other lanes.

Summary

• Go for kills again.
• Stack and pull or roam as two.

Skill Build

Ensnare is a great set up ability since it has such long range and lasts two seconds at level one. Generally, you can go for a surprise first blood so you want this first. Whether you max this or Rip Tide first can go either way; both spells have the same cooldown (14 and 10) and increase in manacost as you level them. Rip Tide does offer you damage (nuke and minus armor), but Ensnare has such a long range that more levels means more time to get in position. I honestly don't think it matters that much. Also remember Ensnare goes through Magic Immunity and stops channeling.


Early levels of Mirror Image are pretty horrible, especially on a non-farming Naga Siren. There is no need to scout runes like Naga in a mid role (as a support you can just go there yourself), and their pitiful damage and tankability is overshadowed by the strength of Rip Tide and Ensnare. Therefore, we forego Mirror Image until those two are maxed out.


Song of the Siren is a very strong initiation and counter-initiation weapon. If your team's positioning is at an advantage, you can pop it and walk into the enemies. If you're at a disadvantage, you just sing and run away. Just make sure you tell your teammates (or they tell you) when you're going to use it so that it doesn't overlap with stuns or nukes. "If I say 'back' don't use Sanity's Eclipse to try to turn the fight because I will use Song to escape".

Items

Assuming you get kills in lane, farm stacks in the jungle, and participate in fights, you will have a decent amount of farm. Just don't build stuff like Radiance and you should do fine.

Starting Items

I typically buy courier because I have a cool one, but wards are a fine option too. One clarity (assuming it doesn't get broken) will be able to sustain you for three to four kills most of the time. Regen is a no brainer. You can also be nice and pool your carry / mid a tango or salve; in that case, buy only 2 branches to start, forgo Magic Wand for a Stick, and save the branches for Mek.

Early Items

[item=Medallion of Courage size=64]

Medallion of Courage is pretty amazing on Naga; I would pick this up after Boots and Magic Wand / Stick. More armor and a little mana regen, deadlier ganks, stacking minus armor, early Roshans, and more come from this item. Next , you'll probably want Arcane Boots so you can spam Rip Tide more, and then a Mekanism. With Arcanes you will probably have the manapool to sustain it, and the regen and armor both benefit you since you are already so tanky.

Other Utility Items

[item=Rod of Atos size=64]

In no particular order, Rod of Atos is a great item on Naga if your team is ahead. Naga has plenty of Agility and Armor, so HP and Mana are great. In particular, the Vit Booster complements Naga's High armor, and the Int will let you spam more spells. Urn is a cheap survivability item that supports love. Drums + Naga's movespeed + Drums in general = great Vlads is a very cost effective support item, even on ranged heroes. Naga is melee, which is even more a good reason it get this. If your team is already building a Mek, this is a great alternative. Pipe is always a good item. If there aren't really any heroes on your team that build this normally, and there's another Mek carrier, and the opponents have a lot of magical damage, or enough to make pushing into the base annoying, definitely get this.

Blink Dagger

Blink Ensnare gives you like 1850 initiation range, though you can't actually bring the enemy closer. However, this is great for chasing. Blink Rip Tide to land multiple hero armor debuffs. And, Blink Song on a coordinated team will save a few seconds of song, as you no longer have to walk into the enemy team to catch everyone. Don't take this item too seriously.

Replay Commentary

Here is a support Naga replay commentary I did. It doesn't include a lot of the stuff I talk about in the guide (IE item choices and skill build), but I hope it demonstrates a little how to play her! Play Video

Concluding Thoughts

Support Naga is very underrated, but can have a large impact at all stages of the game. She feels a bit underwhelming as a carry, so why not give the other roles a try?

Also, comments are appreciated. :)