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Introduction
When your hero dies in DotA, several things happen: You have to wait a
designated time (your level x 4 seconds) until you revive at your base
fountain, the opponents gain experience and gold from killing you, and
your allies lose a valuable asset temporarily. Dying in DotA can be an
unpleasant experience, even more when it happens to less experienced
players. These are a few fundamentals that you can learn will help you
to stay alive when facing better opponents.
Starting the Game
Basic Items
A lot of newer players tend to go right for items like Boots of Speed
or Gloves of Haste in the beginning of the game, and tend to ignore
cheap ways of increasing your survivability dramatically; some even
give you an offensive edge!
Patience
Keep an eye on the timer at the top-right corner of your screen. When
it counts down and reaches 0, that is when the first wave of creeps
will spawn from your base and at your three towers and walk outwards.
They will continue walking along the lanes until they reach the enemy
creeps or tower. It is a good idea to stay near and behind these creeps
because they can provide you with safety from enemy attack.
Creeps and Towers
Creeps
While you can easily kill one on its own, their strength lies in
their numbers. A common mistake many players make is to engage multiple
creeps by themselves. Stay behind the safety of your own creeps so that
you can fight them at your leisure. Creeps spawn every 30 seconds.
Towers
The primary defensive measure for both teams, standing in the safety
of your tower is a strong incentive for enemies to back off. Towers
deal a sizable portion of your hit points in damage, making them
powerful unless there are other targets already in their attack range.
Try to figure out how far this distance is so that you do not take
unnecessary damage.
Both creeps and towers will change their
targets to attack you if you have chosen to attack an enemy hero in the
vicinity. This can be seen clearly in our first example.
Example: In the first part, the creeps are content to attack
each other until Sniper starts attacking the Priestess of the Moon, at
which point they switch to attacking him. Note that the creeps do not
go for the Priestess when she attacks the Sniper back because she is
too far away from them. In the second part, the tower stops attacking
the creeps in order to attack the Sniper when he attacks the Priestess.
Spells
Dying to spells is very common to new players who might not understand
the individual effects or mechanics of the many heroes in DotA. There
are hundreds of unique abilities in DotA, so it would appear to be very
daunting to have to learn and read about EVERY single hero. Instead,
try to place the spells that you have seen your opponents use into
major categories so you know how to react to them in the future:
Just be careful because sometimes certain spells fall under
more than one category: the best way of dealing with these spells would
be from gaining experience, learning from your mistakes, and good
teamwork.
Buying Items
While it can be tempting to go for huge damage items like Buriza-do
Kyanon and Radiance, it helps to know that buying items in a certain
order can really help a lot for improving your survivability. Here are
some tips:
The Map
The map terrain and features are not only for decorative purposes,
something that newer players will understand very quickly when they are
facing opponents who do have the knowledge to make use of the
environment and playing field: Here are several aspects of basic
understanding that will help you to learn about the static features of
the DotA map:
Example: Look at the trouble that Sniper gets into from crossing
the river alone! This play by Sniper is doubly bad because he also goes
uphill into the fog, which severely limits his vision. He can't see the
enemy team lurking above him until it's too late.
Summary
Hopefully, after reading this guide and learning more about
some fundamentals, you were able to pinpoint some of your mistakes as a
newer player to DotA. Learning how creeps and towers function, dealing
with spells, which items are useful, and understanding the map itself
will allow you to better survive against players who have learned this
through their experiences. Dying happens to everyone, use the knowledge
gained by those deaths to improve as a player and you will be a great
asset to your team in the near futur
I would like to come to a
close by reminding you that DotA, while full of individual play and
customization, is still a team game. Nothing gives you more
survivability than the 4 allies fighting alongside you, so having
coordination and teamwork can often be the difference between surviving
together, or dying alone.
Introduction
When your hero dies in DotA, several things happen: You have to wait a
designated time (your level x 4 seconds) until you revive at your base
fountain, the opponents gain experience and gold from killing you, and
your allies lose a valuable asset temporarily. Dying in DotA can be an
unpleasant experience, even more when it happens to less experienced
players. These are a few fundamentals that you can learn will help you
to stay alive when facing better opponents.
Starting the Game
Basic Items
A lot of newer players tend to go right for items like Boots of Speed
or Gloves of Haste in the beginning of the game, and tend to ignore
cheap ways of increasing your survivability dramatically; some even
give you an offensive edge!
- Regeneration
Ancient Tango of Essifation: Tangoes provide uninterrupted healing so you can get right back to the middle of the action.
Healing Salve: Interrupted upon receiving damage, stay back after using. Salves heal about 1/2 to 3/4 of your life early on.
Clarity Potion: Interrupted upon receiving damage, stay back after using. Allows you to cast more spells.
Bottle:
Heals HP and mana. Empty bottles automatically refill when you return
to your fountain, making them useful all game. They can also store
runes. For more information about rune powerups.
Magic Stick: Accumulates heal/mana on standby, this item is great against opponents who use spells frequently.
- Statistic-Increasing
Gauntlets of Giant Strength / Slippers of Agility / Mantle of Intelligence: These items give you very minor +3 bonuses to a specific attribute
Circlet of Nobility: +2 Rounded attribute bonuses usually if you intend to make Bracers, Wraith Bands and Null Talismans
Ironwood Branch: +1 to stats, Cheap and effective, these fill out slot spaces nicely
Patience
Keep an eye on the timer at the top-right corner of your screen. When
it counts down and reaches 0, that is when the first wave of creeps
will spawn from your base and at your three towers and walk outwards.
They will continue walking along the lanes until they reach the enemy
creeps or tower. It is a good idea to stay near and behind these creeps
because they can provide you with safety from enemy attack.
Creeps and Towers
Creeps
While you can easily kill one on its own, their strength lies in
their numbers. A common mistake many players make is to engage multiple
creeps by themselves. Stay behind the safety of your own creeps so that
you can fight them at your leisure. Creeps spawn every 30 seconds.
Towers
The primary defensive measure for both teams, standing in the safety
of your tower is a strong incentive for enemies to back off. Towers
deal a sizable portion of your hit points in damage, making them
powerful unless there are other targets already in their attack range.
Try to figure out how far this distance is so that you do not take
unnecessary damage.
Both creeps and towers will change their
targets to attack you if you have chosen to attack an enemy hero in the
vicinity. This can be seen clearly in our first example.
Example: In the first part, the creeps are content to attack
each other until Sniper starts attacking the Priestess of the Moon, at
which point they switch to attacking him. Note that the creeps do not
go for the Priestess when she attacks the Sniper back because she is
too far away from them. In the second part, the tower stops attacking
the creeps in order to attack the Sniper when he attacks the Priestess.
Spells
Dying to spells is very common to new players who might not understand
the individual effects or mechanics of the many heroes in DotA. There
are hundreds of unique abilities in DotA, so it would appear to be very
daunting to have to learn and read about EVERY single hero. Instead,
try to place the spells that you have seen your opponents use into
major categories so you know how to react to them in the future:
- Direct Damage
These spells often deal lots of damage quickly to an opponent, great
for harassing and/or finishing them off. Try to be careful of these
spells by keeping your current HP relatively high.
Examples: Laser (Tinker) and Culling Blade (Axe) - Area of Effect
Affect only the area specified by your opponent. These spells can
sometimes be avoided if you can be unpredictable as to confuse your
opponents or keep your distance so that the spells do not reach you.
Examples: Sonic Wave (Queen of Pain) and Macropyre (Twin-Headed Dragon) - Damage Over Time
Rather than instant damage, these abilities do their damage in segments
but can come with extra effects, such as slow. While this will prevent
Healing Salve and Bottle from healing you, regeneration items and
specific abilities or items such as Mekansm can still be used.
Examples: Venomous Gale (Venomancer) and Ignite (Ogre Magi) - Disable/Stun
These spells stun you or prevent you from responding in some way -
movement, attacking, casting spells, or sometimes in combination.
Generally you have to watch your distance or have an ally to assist you
in case this happens.
Examples: Shackle (Shadow Shaman) and Fiend's Grip (Bane Elemental) - Buff/Debuff
These
spells either make you or your allies stronger or opponents weaker in
some way such as increasing damage, armor, prevention of status effects.
Examples: Repel (Omniknight) and Frost Armor (Lich)
Just be careful because sometimes certain spells fall under
more than one category: the best way of dealing with these spells would
be from gaining experience, learning from your mistakes, and good
teamwork.
Buying Items
While it can be tempting to go for huge damage items like Buriza-do
Kyanon and Radiance, it helps to know that buying items in a certain
order can really help a lot for improving your survivability. Here are
some tips:
- Bracers/Wraith Bands/Null Talismans
Sometimes
it can be useful to make 2-3 before going for more expensive items.
They provide useful bonuses that help you survive and use more spells
or deal more damage.
- Power Treads/ Phase Boots / Boots of Travel
Upgrading
your footwear will also give you both a movement speed boost and may
come with useful abilities. Power Treads are good if you want the
attack speed, Phase Boots give you a little more damage and armor, and
Boots of Travel gives you a teleportation ability to any allied unit.
- Buying order
Sometimes
players tend to purchase items in the wrong order, so in order to
explain this more thoroughly, let us look at the components of an item,
the Linken's Sphere, which is comprised of:
Perseverance (Ring of Health [875] + Void Stone [875]) + Ultimate Orb [2100] + Recipe [1325]
It is a good idea to start with the ring of health or void stone to
help provide regeneration in the lane. This will help you survive and
save up the 2100 for your Ultimate Orb. Of course, if you were
fortunate enough to get that much gold early then feel free to buy the
more expensive component. NEVER BUY RECIPES FIRST.
- Scroll of Town Portal
The
reason this item deserves special mention and its own category is
because it is one of the most important items that EVERY hero
gets.While you do not have to buy one at the beginning of the game,
this item is extremely useful and provides you with the ability to
escape from enemies or to defend your buildings. Be wary of its
channeling time, because it can be interrupted by some spells and
items. You definitely want to be carrying at least one of these at all
times, especially later in the game.
The Map
The map terrain and features are not only for decorative purposes,
something that newer players will understand very quickly when they are
facing opponents who do have the knowledge to make use of the
environment and playing field: Here are several aspects of basic
understanding that will help you to learn about the static features of
the DotA map:
Elevation
Players
in low areas cannot see enemies located above them: They also suffer a
25% miss chance when fighting higher targets. Players often get
surprised when they seemingly get attacked without warning near a ramp.
In short, the higher you are, the better.
- Terrain
There are
many small pathways and little areas of trees that obscure vision and
provide perfect hiding spots for your enemies. Sometimes it can be a
good idea to run into the trees if you are trying to escape from them.
- Time
You will have
less vision at night, making it easier for opponents to close in and
surprise you. Bonus fact: Some heroes like Drow Ranger and Nightstalker
have higher than normal vision at night. More information
- Crossing the River
The
River divides up the territory between Sentinel and Scourge. Please be
extremely cautious when you decide to travel across to the other half
of the map. One of the most common mistakes for less experienced
players to make is to fight creeps too far into the other side and
eventually get killed as a result of this. Unless you are extremely
confident in your abilities to escape, or bring allies with you,
entering enemy territory alone will always result in an easy target for
the opposing team to exterminate.
Example: Look at the trouble that Sniper gets into from crossing
the river alone! This play by Sniper is doubly bad because he also goes
uphill into the fog, which severely limits his vision. He can't see the
enemy team lurking above him until it's too late.
Summary
Hopefully, after reading this guide and learning more about
some fundamentals, you were able to pinpoint some of your mistakes as a
newer player to DotA. Learning how creeps and towers function, dealing
with spells, which items are useful, and understanding the map itself
will allow you to better survive against players who have learned this
through their experiences. Dying happens to everyone, use the knowledge
gained by those deaths to improve as a player and you will be a great
asset to your team in the near futur
I would like to come to a
close by reminding you that DotA, while full of individual play and
customization, is still a team game. Nothing gives you more
survivability than the 4 allies fighting alongside you, so having
coordination and teamwork can often be the difference between surviving
together, or dying alone.
Last edited by -cS^sWiTcHFooT on Thu Dec 24, 2009 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total
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