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Dota 2: Soft Support tier list in 2025: All heroes ranked worst to best in the role

Andrew Boggs

Sports Writer

Publish Date: 28/11/2025

Key Points

Bounty Hunter, Shadow Shaman, and Spirit Breaker are top-tier soft supports in 7.39e.
Vision, waveclear, and fight control define the best pos-4 heroes right now.
Avoid greedy or farm-reliant picks if you're trying to climb in ranked.

Dota 2 Soft Support Tier List for Ranked Pubs (2025, Patch 7.39e)

It’s been a wild season for support players, so I figured it was time to put together a proper Dota 2 soft support tier list for 2025. With 126 heroes in the pool and patch 7.39e shaking things up, there’s a lot to cover.

This list focuses purely on how each hero performs as a position four in ranked pubs. I’m not talking theorycraft or niche five-stacks. This is solo and duo queue, where map pressure, waveclear, and tempo matter most. If you want to win games without relying on teammates, this is the tier list you’re looking for.

▶️ Dota 2 Medusa

How this Dota 2 soft support tier list works

Soft support, or pos-4, isn’t just “the other support” anymore. It’s usually the playmaker on Dota 2 betting sites. You roam and provide some vision, but you’re also expected to scale with utility or disable, not sit behind your cores like a ward bot. Some heroes are clearly designed to fit that. Hoodwink, Techies, Tusk. Others (like Invoker or Magnus) flex in when the meta lets them. Either way, this list ranks every single hero by how well they work in that specific soft support role. Here’s how I’m judging them:

Teamfight value
Laning impact
Scaling
Win rate, pick rate, and role usage in ranked across multiple sources

Tier list recap

Here’s a recap you can keep open on your second monitor while you plan your next strategy:

#️⃣ Tier	👤 Heroes
S	Bounty Hunter, Shadow Shaman, Spirit Breaker, Tusk, Earthshaker, Magnus, Clockwerk
A	Hoodwink, Dark Willow, Vengeful Spirit, Rubick, Snapfire, Phoenix, Techies
B	Zeus, Pugna, Undying, Enchantress, Ringmaster
C	Clinkz, Omniknight, Invoker, Necrophos
F	Spectre, Medusa, Phantom Assassin, Anti-Mage, Broodmother, Doom

S-Tier

These are the top-tier pub stompers. The ones you can pick blind and still win games. They don’t rely on perfect teammates, and they bring enough value that one good fight can snowball the game. Let’s go worst-to-best in S-tier.

Clockwerk

Hookshot into Cogs is still a nightmare. Clock’s vision control and backline disruption win fights before they start. Strong in all brackets.

▶️ Dota 2 Clockwerk

Earthshaker

Even if you whiff Echo, a good Fissure can block paths, isolate cores, or start picks. With Blink, he scales into late-game stuns too.

▶️ Dota 2 Earthshaker

Magnus

Magnus isn’t just for mid or offlane. As a 4, he accelerates your carry and brings massive fight control. Great with melee 1s.

▶️ Dota 2 Magnus

Tusk

Snowball saves, Shards picks, and Walrus Punch deletes squishies. Great tempo pick when you want to brawl early and often.

▶️ Dota 2 Tusk

Spirit Breaker

Charge lets you always be in the fight. SB is tanky, hard to kite, and great at catching backliners. Feels unfair with decent map sense.

▶️ Dota 2 Spirit Breaker

Shadow Shaman

He’s slow, sure, but in the right hands, he locks down cores and shreds towers with Serpent Wards. In lower brackets, he’s a nightmare.

▶️ Dota 2 Shadow Shaman

Bounty Hunter

This is the best soft support in ranked right now. He snowballs lanes, punishes greed, and doesn’t need farm to scale. With pubs being as hectic as ever, Bounty Hunter thrives off the lack of detection and punishes split pushes constantly.

▶️ Dota 2 Bounty Hunter

A-Tier

Now we’re talking. These heroes aren’t quite “auto-pick” strong, but they’re flexible, impactful, and win games in most pubs. They show up across tier lists, pub stats, and tournament drafts, and they do their job without needing perfect execution.

Hoodwink

Nukes, vision, and a brutal leash that punishes overextensions. Even post-Gleipnir, she remains strong thanks to that early fight impact.

▶️ Dota 2 Hoodwink

Dark Willow

Fear chains, Cursed Crown setups, and great scaling with talents. A little squishy, but devastating in the right fights.

▶️ Dota 2 Dark Willow

Vengeful Spirit

High win rate, flexible between 4 and 5, and can turn games with a well-timed swap. Aura buffs carry scaling too.

▶️ Dota 2 Vengeful Spirit

Rubick

Always solid. He’s slippery, offers strong control, and punishes greedy ultimates. Stronger at higher MMR where spell stealing is consistent.

▶️ Dota 2 Rubick

Snapfire

Cookie saves, nuke damage, and Kisses that delete clumped teams. Still a top soft support even if she isn’t as busted as last patch.

▶️ Dota 2 Snapfire

Phoenix

Wave clear, sustain, and teamfight all in one. Egg still turns fights if the enemy’s not coordinated.

▶️ Dota 2 Phoenix

Techies

Post-rework Techies has found a niche, mostly utility stuns and pressure, less mine cheese. Still annoying, still effective.

▶️ Dota 2 Techies

3️⃣ F-Tier

You know the type. Spectre pos-4. Medusa roaming. Phantom Assassin with Tranquils and an Urn. These aren’t real picks, they’re memes. F-tier includes:

Greedy 1s like Spectre, Anti-Mage, Medusa, PA, Naga Siren
Mid-only or XP-hungry offlaners like Timbersaw, Broodmother, Leshrac, Doom
Anything that scales only with gold and offers zero support utility

They don’t lane well as support, they don’t rotate, and they don’t give your team anything early. If you’re trying to climb, leave these in your fantasy drafts.

4️⃣ C-Tier

C-tier isn’t totally unplayable, they’re just off-meta or need very specific lineups. You might get value if you’re stacking or playing with friends. But in pubs, they’re risky.

Omniknight - Great saves, but no setup or info
Clinkz - Still squishy, and struggles to offer control
Necrophos - Too slow and gold-dependent
Invoker - Can work as a 4, but needs high mechanical skill and draft setup

I’ve seen them pop off in the right hands, but don’t rely on these unless they’re pocket picks.

5️⃣ B-Tier

This is where a lot of old reliable support picks live. They’re decent in lane, offer utility, and can definitely help win games, but they’re not winning drafts by themselves. Think of these as the comfort heroes, solid but situational.

Zeus - Good poke and vision, but fragile and farm-hungry
Pugna - Great waveclear and save, but squishy and team-dependent
Enchantress - Can dominate early, but falls off fast
Undying - Still annoying, just not as strong without a great lane

These are the picks you reach for when the draft allows, or if you’ve mastered their style.

Soft support, hard truths

If you're playing pos-4 in ranked right now, bless you. It's not glamorous, and you’re not getting MVP, but you can absolutely carry the game through tempo, vision, and smart rotations. Stick to heroes that don’t need babying, bring consistent fight value, and make stuff happen on their own. The S and A-tier heroes listed here aren’t just theoretical picks, they’re proven in pubs.