um i only just got dota2, recently and am thus a total noob. i like playing support roles generally so i decided i like omniknight. do any of you have any tips/methods on his loadout and how to play him?
i've barely played 5 games at this point so yeah.
my friend recommends clinkz for beginners but i seem to just die a lot (or skeleton walk away with low hp) and not contributing much :\ what do you do when the enemy hero(es) in your lane can defeat you, how do you farm then?
too many questions, sorry for noob-ness, etc
I'm no veteran myself, I've only been playing since March with just 30 wins on my belt, but Omni is one of my favourite heroes. Here's my two cents, at least from a noob perspective, of how to play him. I'm sure more experienced players can correct me where I might not be giving the best advice, but I've seen success at my skill level by playing him this way.
Omniknight is pretty fucking amazing, Omniscient-tier even (totally not hyperbole!) because he doesn't need a lot of farm (gold from last-hitting creeps and killing heroes) to be effective. When laning with your partner, let him get as many last-hits on creeps as he can and focus on keeping him alive. Start by purchasing the courier (or wards if someone else has bought the courier), a Sage's Mask, and Clarities. The sage's mask is important as your very first core item should be the Soul Ring; rush to get this ASAP as it's crucial for Omniknight to have mana to constantly use his Purification (get this as your lv1 ability).
Purification is an awesome spell because it heals the target and does damage to enemies around them. Use it as much as you can on your partner when he's surrounded by enemy creeps or heroes. For example if your partner is fighting with an enemy hero, they may not realize that by fighting close to him you can do a TON of damage while healing your partner at the same time. So if your hero and the enemy hero are both melee, your partner is at a huge advantage by having Omniknight to back him up. If the opponents in your lane are being too aggressive, punish them for it by supporting your hero and using Purification as much as possible. You guys can pull off the first blood and some easy early kills this way without overexerting yourselves. Prioritize your lane partner over your own health; if you die early it's not good, but keeping the carry you're supporting healthy and in-lane is super important.
Put your level 2 into Degen Aura and max Purification ASAP as it's his best skill. Repel is very good but not crucial for early game unless you and your partner are doing a lot of fighting with other heroes. I'd normally recommend it around level 5 or 6.
Once you have your soul ring, get the manaboots (Arcane) as this just makes your ability to spam Purification even better. Omniknight is a STR support hero which is pretty unique and makes him very tanky, which is very cool for a support. He can take a lot of damage and actually dish out quite a bit. I recommend Mekanism and Skull Basher as your next two core items. Get the Meka first if you're engaging in a lot of team fights; this will help your team survive battles even more as it has a very good AOE heal and aura, and you've definitely got enough mana to use it as much as possible. Between Purification, Repel, Degen Aura, Mekanism, and Guardian Angel, any team rolling with Omniknight is pretty much a fucking brick wall of death. The Skull Basher will add to your own effectiveness mid-late game. Because of Purification Omni is not only a great support, but is really good at lane pushing. If your team is busy farming and ganking and you've got a lane being taken over by enemy creeps, he can easily warp over to said lane and spam Purification to push the waves back; at this point in the game you'll one-shot Ranged Creeps with it and can clean up the Melees very fast with your increased damage from the Skull Basher.
With these items on you, you're pretty much a badass for support, laning and survivability. You've been sacrificing most of your farm throughout the game for your carries to farm (and by buying wards. As a support it is your duty to supply your team with wards constantly so if no one else is doing it, the responsibility lies with you) so you shouldn't be expected to be rich at the late-game, but if you can afford luxury items I'd say go with a Sheepstick (Scythe of Vyse) to add some disabling to your team, or Shiva's Guard which will slow down your opponents even more on top of your Degen Aura, making them far less effective in stopping your carries. Make sure you have your Ultimate ready to pop for teamfights as it will turn the tide of battle. Make sure to cast Repel on your main carry prior to using your Ultimate, as he'll be completely invulnerable to most, if not all, types of damage your opponents can dish out for about 7 seconds; easily enough time to absolutely destroy the enemy team. Be wary though: if you cast Repel on a teammate or yourself, you cannot use Purification on them to heal for the duration, so if they're getting low on health make sure to heal them up before casting Repel.
Omniknight is a badass who I don't see played much in pubs, so if you get really good with him you can be a very unique support who will turn the tide of battle often and allow your teammates to decimate your enemies with minimal losses. While he is very strong, don't worry about getting too many kills with Omni yet. Just focus on improving your playstyle to keep your teammates healthy and destructive.
