A Close Examination of Supports: Wisp/IO

Wisp/IO: For Something that Doesn't Talk, You Sure Make A Lot of Noise!


(Picture from TitanGamerZ.com)

"Unto a life which I call natural I would gladly follow even a will-o'-the-wisp through bogs and sloughs unimaginable, but no moon nor firefly has shown me the causeway to it."- Henry David Thoreau

For the purpose of this article, IO will be referred to as Wisp, because it is more pleasurable for the eyes and the tongue.


First Disrupter, now Wisp! Why the boring supports?

Wisp is anything but boring. I will fight you and your big stupid nose for saying such terrible things about my Wispey-poo!

Inorder to play Wisp, you need 3 things.

1. Map Awarness - With or without wards, nothing sucks more than Teleporting to gank 1 guy, and finding out that there is a surprise party in your honour. 
2. Strong Communication Skills - You need to tell your date when and where you are going, because it sucks when you end up going to prom alone; it's even worse though when you arrive and your date looks like they just took acid, screaming, "WHERE ARE WE? OH GOD, IS THAT A TOWER? I WAS JUST SLEEPING IN THE POND A SECOND AGO?!". This, followed by projectile vomiting and collapsing in a heap on the dance floor will draw unneeded attention to you and your lack of communication.
3. Teamwork - Wisp is a little ball of energy. With Wisp being defanged(figuratively) all Wisp has is a slow. Think of yourself as a desperate Sports Coach, dispensing out Steroids to your players, while trying to weaken the other player's resolve by throwing waterballons(Spirits) on them. Sure, the waterballons may scare off the opposition, but it's probably going to be the 400 pound Gorillas that you put out on the field that send them packing.

Now you know what it takes to play Wisp!

UGGGGGHHHHH, I just keep dying as wisp. He/She/It is just a gooey ball of regret, why did I ever let you talk me into playing this hero?

You might be doing it wrong. Your role would generally be classified as a 4, sometimes a 3. Your no Hard Support, your Wisp! Did you think Wisp stood for "Weak Intelligence, Support Player"? Wisp actually stands for "Weaponized, Indestructible, Sentinel Powerhouse". You need that farm for: Mekanism, health regen, mana regen, and something a little extra to protect your little baby carry to victory. You do need wards to help set-up your teleportation, so if no one else can/will buy them, you're footing the bill.

Your Tether is a great tool, not only does it increase yourself and your target's speed, give them all of your regen, but you can pretend to be Spider-man when the going get's tough. Instead of tethering to a teammate for a piddle speed buff when you're trying to escape, let them get some distance, draw the enemy's away from your teamate, and slingshot your terrifying being of pure energy over cliffs and through trees at super-sonic speeds. This also works with allied creeps.

STOP FORGETTING ABOUT YOUR OVERCHARGE! Sure, it hurts now, but by now you realized you're a man among men(if men were beings of pure energy), and that little trickle of damage will be miniscule in comparison to the damage you blocked.

(I am a simple fellow, and for the sake of being simplistic, ignore any form of magical armor and health regen, k?)
Let's say you are wandering about and enjoying your day, placing wards, etc. You start to have a small stroke and lose track of enemy positions. A level 16 Lina comes up from behind. On your retreat back, she lands Dragon Slave (280 dmg), Light Strike Array(280 dmg), and Laguna Blade(950 dmg) on you. That's 1510 damage on you, and you only have 1500 health! Remember that stroke from before? You are now having serious heart palpitations. Luckily for you, before you fall off of your chair, you were able to hit Overcharge and tell your hero to runaway. After 5 seconds of severe heart palpitations, you are able to return to your keyboard and turn off Overcharge. You find out that you had 225 health left over.

   What was the math behind it you ask? You were able to reduce 302 damage from Lina. The damage you sustained from Overcharge (over a 5 second time frame of Overcharge with 1500 health, for simplicity's sake), Overcharge damaged you by only 67 points. That being all said and done, Wisp may have survived in this hypothetical, but you as a player did not make it. After the heart palpation, you had a severe stroke, and after many trying months, you pass away quietly in your sleep. Makes you think how fragile life is, doesn't it?


Hmmmmm, I don't seem to be dying so much, how do I Level this hero?

There are generally 2 different builds you can do (lvl 6)

I don't trust you

3-1-1-1
This is for players who don't trust their partners in crime. Sometimes Spirits are needed for the extra damage, but lets be honest, you have this unending hunger in your gut that is only satisfied when you kill the opposing team. Killing is what makes you happy, and why should you stop? Farm on Wisp helps the entire team! Pick this up if you need more kill potential, or no one is generally going into fights.

Mostly used in pub matches, to the chagrin of some.

Bonnie and Clyde

1-1-3-1 (0-2-3-1 If your carry is really good/strong)
You have full faith in your allies. You do not flinch, you are what historians will write about. You are pumping "Awesome" straight into the veins of your carry. This build works well with heroes like Chaos Knight or Tiny, where your damage doesn't mean much if you can get him to do a crazy amount of damage and/or keep him alive. Not to mention you are always looking to Relocate these heroes into fights.

Tips:

1. Your Relocate is great for initiating, but it's also great for escapes. If you are at the pond, and a player is clearly in a bad position, and is being chased, Relocating just behind the enemies, and Tethering straight to you ally will slow the pursuers instantly, slingshot you to your teammate, and after the timer ends, bring you and your ally back to pond. 
2. Tether is great for slingshots and has a huge radius in which it is activated, but did you know you can use Tether to kill your ranged creep in lane? By Tethering the ranged creep, you give it crazy move speed and bring him to the front lines. This ensures the ranged creeps death quick and human, With the added benefit of pushing your lane back.
3. You cannot deny yourself with Overcharge. If you are that low anyways, and escape seems near impossible, why not just use it on your carry for the short period before you die. An increased attack speed and reduced damage is almost always appreciated.
4. Before casting Relocate right behind the enemies, hit your Spirits and Spirits In. This initial forethought allows you to bring out all your Spirits and allow you to easily land every single one on some poor, unsuspecting victim(just walk into someone and watch the explosions).
5. Tired of people running out of range and breaking your Tether when you start a Relocate? Cast Tether after Relocate! People cannot outrun your Tether while you are being pulled to them.
6. Wisp's Relocate is a special channel. Think of it as an instant cast that takes a bit of time to work. There is nothing you can do to stop the Relocate when it's been cast, so use it wisely young Padawan.