Pudge Support Tips

Playing Pudge as a support means you give up farm, place vision and use your spells to set up kills for your cores. Your main tool is Meat Hook, which can catch an enemy or rescue a teammate. Treat the lane as a job of protecting your carry first and hunting second.

What does a support Pudge do in lane?

Your first job is to keep your carry safe and fed. Stand where the enemy laners have to walk past you to harass your core. That threat alone often makes them play more carefully.

Do not take last hits your carry could take. Pudge does not need many items to be useful, so farm matters less to you than to most heroes. Pick up gold from kills, bounty runes and creeps your core cannot reach.

Use Rot carefully in lane. It hurts and slows nearby enemies, but it also damages you. Short bursts are usually enough to finish a kill or chase a hero who walked too close. Check the current values on Pudge abilities before you plan around its damage.

When should you throw Meat Hook as a support?

A support Pudge often lands more hooks than a core because enemies focus on the carry. Wait until an enemy steps away from their creeps or moves to hit your carry. A hook at that moment drags them into your whole lane.

Think about what happens after the hook lands. If your carry cannot follow up, a hook may only cost you mana. Before you throw it, check that your core is close and has the spells or damage to finish the fight.

Meat Hook also pulls allies. If your carry gets caught out of position, a hook can drag them back to you. This is one of the strongest things a support Pudge can do. Our guide on saving teammates with Meat Hook covers this in more detail.

What else should you do besides hooking?

Supports buy most of the team's wards. Place Observer Wards where they show enemy paths into your lane. Good vision helps you hook from safe spots and warns you about ganks.

Pulling and stacking neutral camps are classic support jobs. A pull moves the lane back toward your tower, where your carry is safer. A stack gives your core more farm later. Pudge can do both like any other support.

Watch the map for chances to rotate. When your lane is stable, a short trip to another lane can win it a kill. Tell your carry before you leave so they can play safe. See when Pudge should leave lane for more on timing.

How do you use Dismember to set up kills?

Dismember is a channeled ultimate that holds one enemy in place. It deals Magical damage and goes through spell immunity. Only strong dispels can remove it.

As a support, you rarely need Dismember to kill on its own. Use it to hold an enemy still while your cores deal damage. A held target is easy for your team to finish.

Remember that a stun or silence on you will interrupt the channel. Try to cast it when the enemy disables are used up or when your team can protect you.

How should you play teamfights?

In fights, your value is control and saves. Look for an enemy who is out of position, or for a teammate who needs rescue. Saving your carry often matters more than catching an enemy support.

Meat Shield is a defensive self-cast that cannot be dispelled. Use it when you are about to take heavy damage, not as a random button. Our Meat Shield guide explains good moments for it.

Do not jump in first unless your team is ready to follow. A support Pudge who dies at the start of a fight loses both his hook and his ultimate. Stay close enough to reach a target, but far enough back to survive the first spells.

Which items should you buy?

Support Pudge usually buys cheap utility first: wards, Smoke of Deceit and items that help the team. Smoke of Deceit hides your group until enemies get close, which makes ganks much easier.

For which items players actually buy in each phase of the game, see what players buy on Pudge. Adjust to your game rather than following a fixed list.

Checklist

• Leave last hits to your carry and take only what they cannot reach.
• Place Observer Wards on enemy paths into your lane.
• Throw Meat Hook only when your carry can follow up.
• Keep a hook ready to pull your carry out of danger.
• Use Dismember to hold a target for your cores, not to farm kills.
• Tell your lane partner before you leave to rotate.