Dota 2 - How to hard support properly

Introduction

Even though this is the most underrated position in Dota 2, hard supports are the ones who have to make something happen during the early stages of the game. Apart from helping the safe-lane hero of their team, these supports also have to try to pressure the enemy as much as they can. This, alongside the other activities such as pulling, ganks, etc, makes playing hard support very difficult. 

Having said that, here are a couple of things that you need to know before you decide to play hard support. This is very lucrative nowadays because you nearly always get instant games, without having to wait in a queue.

Do not stay leach experience all the time

One of the most important things that you need to remember is not to stay afk in the lane. This is something that many people do, which is very strange because you're just wasting your time. Instead of staying behind your carry and do nothing, there are so many other things that you can do. Whether it's harassing, stacking, pulling, etc., pretty much anything else is better than this. Sadly, not many people get this, which is why you can often see support players that don't do anything but stealing experience.

Buy as much regeneration as possible

The second very interesting aspect of a soft support player is to get regen. This is very important, especially if you're planning to harras your enemies all the time. However, even if you don't, some offlaners are very hard to deal with, so you might constantly be on low HP. In order to avoid feeding random kills to the offlaner, just have one or two Healing Salves to help your carry and yourself when it's needed.

Try to get the bounty runes and rotate 

Lastly, if things are going well with your lane, there is no point to just stay there and do nothing. Instead, team up with your soft support and start making plays around the map. Whether you will go for the bounty runes or a gank, every map movement is a plus if you do it the right way. This means that you need to buy the proper items, such as a Smoke of Deceit, Dust (if it's needed), and so on.