A Simple General Guide for DoTA

Introduction

Welcome to DoTA, you suck.
This is the plain truth, which every DoTA newbie knows. As much as some players would like to deny it: everyone sucks when they start out.
So the very first step to take, when learning this game is to actually admit that you suck.
(..... and I seriously don't care whether you are Diamond League in Starcraft or whether you have 1500 Elo in League of Legends: everyone sucks when they start off.)

This guide is going to take you through all the basic aspects of the game, and attempt to give you the knowledge to use your skills in DoTA.




This guide is still under construction and further expansions are planned!!!

Starting Tips

Learn what you are dealing with. Before actually starting a game I would recommend you to get to know the heroes, abilities and items in the game. The DoTA developers have even made the in-game "learning" tab in which you can view every single hero in the game. Stay informed about the game, read the patch notes, read guides and listen to what others have to say about it.

Bot games. Don't go into normal games straight away, remember that you are playing with other people and these tend to get frustrated when playing with newbie's. Well this is when bot games come into play. AI games are a great way to get to know the heroes and learning the game. Even though it is debatable whether bot games actually help, as AI controlled heroes tend to have a linear behaviour, it is still possible to practice some aspects of the game such as farming or jungling.

Practice makes Perfect. To be actually good in this game, time and dedication is necessary. If you want something to be done then don't give up straight away, and I know that as newbie it can be frustrating to get killed and loosing all the time. but you have to get through it.

Playing the Game

After enough practice and bot games, you must be ready for a normal game. This section will be divided into all phases of the game which are (if you don't know them yet):

1. Pre-game
2. Early Game
3. Mid Game
4. Late Game

1. Pre-Game

The pre-game is the phase before the creep spawning and the one in which you actually pick the heroes. Following things are to be taken in to account:

Know which Hero to pick. The best hero pick, is the one which directly aids your team, increases the chances of success and exploits the weaknesses of the opponent team. When picking the hero you have to take his role into account (as well as whether he is ranged or melee). A typical team includes at least a carry, a support, an initiator, a ganker and advisably a pusher. Knowing what to pick is almost like solving a mathematical equation. If you already have a ganker, pusher, initiator and a support; then you will obviously pick a carry. And this works the other way around as well. Or if your team has already 4 melee heroes then a pick a ranged hero.

Don't pick a hero you don't know. The more comfortable you are with a hero, the higher the chances of success will be. If you pick a hero you don't know, then you will not only harm yourself, but as well limit the success chances of your team. Thus as already mentioned above tend to get frustrated when playing with people who have no idea what they are doing. So don't ruin you game experience, and don't ruin the game experience of your team; pick a hero you feel comfortable about.

2. Early Game

After picking the right hero, you need to get ready.

Grab some items. Early game items are all about stats and regen. Without them you won't be able to last long in lane, which increases your chances to get killed. Here are some regen items you should get at the start of the game:

or/and or

And you will need a combination of stat items:



Don't for get that DoTA is all about being flexible, here are some items which merit consideration:



If you happen to be a support don't forget to grab a courier and some wards:



Try to get the items which you can actually upgrade later in the game.

Its all about farming. If you haven't realized it yet, you get gold from farming, and with farming I mean giving the enemy creeps the killing blow. Its immediately obvious that gold is good. When farming try to avoid auto-attacking the creeps, give only last hits. This will prevent your own creeps pushing too far into the enemy territory; were farming, especially near the enemy tower can turn out to be dangerous. Remember that your opponents need farm as well. This is how denying turns out to be useful, as you can deny your own creeps and prevent the enemy from farming. You deny creeps the same way you farm, but instead of simply right clicking, press "A" and click (you can obviously rebind the key). If you happen to be a support with a carry in lane, try to leave him all the farm.

Map Control. Ganking is another aspect of this game, and it happens frequently early game. Take a look at the map, if you see less then 5 enemy heroes then you might ask your self the question: "Can an enemy get easily behind me? Does he have stuns? Am I alone in lane?". If yes then it would be probably a good idea to back up a little. Especially when you are extending too much into enemy territory it might be already too late. When you notice an opponent missing in your lane then it might be a good idea to inform your team mates about that by simply typing something like "ss", "mia", "miss" into the chat. If you notice an enemy extending too much in your territory then it might be a good idea to gank him. Notice the runes in the middle of each side of the river. When you catch a haste/invisibility/double damage rune then you might get almost a guaranteed kill when ganking.

Use the Courier. Instead of going back the base all the time you might simply use the courier to get the items you want. This minimizes gold and xp loss.

3. Mid Game

The first team fights have broken out and towers have fallen. Its time for the Mid Game.

Boots and TP Scrolls. Mid Game is all about ganking and pushing. You will need mobility to succeed in this phase of the game. Depending on which role you are playing or what you are playing get one of these boots:



By getting a town portal scroll you will be able to teleport to nearby team fights or to aid your team mates. You could as well use it to escape.



Communication. Call out for ganks. Whether you are requesting one or delivering one, make sure that your team mates know not only when, but who to gank. When multiple heroes are present make sure that everyone knows who the primary target is. Instead of picking up a rune straight away you might think about who of your team mates might need it the most.

Importance of Towers. In every case your teams priority is to push the enemy towers and to prevent the enemy of pushing yours. Its all about the gold you and your team gets. 200 gold might sound not much to you but if you consider that the whole team gets it, then it suddenly turns out to be 1000 gold. That's why picking a pusher, or even a pushing team composition has its advantages. Keep in mind that towers can be denied as well when they are low on HP.

Keep an eye at everyone's Inventory. Its is important to know what you want to build, but its even more important what everyone else is doing. If someone of your team is building a Pipe of Insight then you will certainly not need on. Knowing what the enemy team is getting is the most important of all, as it is a clear indicator on what they are planning to do. If their initiator has a Blink Dagger then you can count on a sudden assault or gank. If their support is getting Smoke of Deceit then they will probably aim to ambush you, and if you might notice them carrying around a suspicious amount of Observer Ward then try to stay away from the river and their jungle.

4. Late Game

Team fights have been fought, lanes have been pushed and carries have been fed, the final outcome of the game is to be decided in the Late Game.

Know your Role. By this time you must be able to know your role by 100%. You need to know how you fit into the rest of the team. If you are supporting then your item choices need to reflect on that. If you are carrying then you must be able to do so.

Get some real items. This is the time to get some big items. You can no longer rely on cheap item builds by this time. The potential of your hero relies on the items you will get:



One push can end it. If you have won a team fight, don't try to finish your item build. Re-Spawning by now takes about 60+ seconds. You will have to push as hard as you can and try to score all of their barracks but remember to get the melee barracks always first. In this stage you may not get a second chance.