Theory Crafting: Tusk as a Support

Tusk has made a first impression on the Dota 2 scene as a snowbally semi-carry.

Personally, I see potential in him to be the next Nyx Assassin - a hero that at first glance looks like a pubstomper semi-carry, but is actually a very good Roaming Support.

Spell Breakdown

• Ice Shards
• Deals Damage and Blocks Pathing 
• Comparison: similar to Earthshaker's Fissure
• Snowball
• Initiation
• Stun + Damage
• Comparison: it's like a less reliable Burrow Strike (Sand King spell)
• Frozen Sigil
• Massive AoE slow to move and attack speed
• Comparison: Warlock's Upheaval or Omniknight's Degen Aura
• Walrus Punch
• Critial Strike on short cooldown
• Also slows movespeed of target by 40% for a few seconds
• Comparison: Nyx Assassin's Vendetta, Earthshaker's Enchant Totem, or Necrolyte's Scythe

Potential Issues

• Ult scales with damage
• Ult gets better when a hero is low HP (could be kind of kill-stealy, but depends on timing)
• Traditional Support items may not be great on him (e.g. Arcane Boots)

He might not be the most item independent hero, but many other supports are definitely more effective with farm. Take Nyx Assassin for instance. With additional farm, he can easily solo kill heroes. Or Earthshaker - his crit gives 400% bonus damage, but he doesn't stack damage items. Granted it's not his ult, but it's still relevant.

Final Thoughts

I think Tusk has a lot of potential as a roaming support hero. He has a lot of spells that can be used in a supportive way. Sure, you might not be getting the most out of his ult if you don't stack damage items, but many other supports suffer the same problem. When you look at the bottom line, any hero will become more effective with items.

In the right lineup, Tusk could be an extremely effective support that has potential to scale into late game. He is a bit less reliable than some other supports, but he also has a lot to offer.