Great Key Points for newbs/veterans alike. Some people need a reminder.
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Welcome, I love Dota and have since I was 17. Its the best multiplayer game I have ever played and to this day nothing matches it. What you are about to read is a foundation of Dota strategy that everyone can build on. A lot of this is my opinion and I am by no means a professional player but I have a very good of understanding of the game. I will talk about things that carry over to every dota game and change very little from version to version. The hardest part about writing guides for Dota is its in a constant state of change. There are a lot of new players getting into the game and the big question is how do we make these players better before they even start their first game? I hope to solve that problem. So lets get started shall we?
El_Fuego's Essentials of Dota
I want to start with something that allows for all the other ideas to build from. I decided to start with vision because if you can't see you can't play.
Vision:
Vision is so important in Dota professional teams designate heroes to provide it all game. Yet, even when playing with seasoned players it can sometimes be an afterthought. If you don't have wards when the creeps spawn you are already losing the game.
Anyone can and should buy wards. Do not put the burden on one hero. The ward gold should be split amongst the team. The idea behind this is that because you have vision you make more gold and the 400 spent on buying out the wards becomes negligible. In short, vision = more gold.
If you are a new player the best thing you can do right away is buy wards and give them to someone who knows what to do with them.
Learn how line of sight works and you will instantly become a better dota player, you will gank/avoid ganks better, harass better, and be much harder to kill while being chased.
If they pick a stealth hero your team buys dust along with wards at start. Its costs a bit extra but when you FB gondar its going to be worth it.
Look at players items before you engage them. You know that QoP you are about to gank alone? She has sheep stick and you never checked, you're a dead man.
The map in the bottom left corner of your screen is the best ward you will ever have, it lasts all game, always gives you important information, and best of all its free
Ganking:
Everyone loves to gank and no one likes to get ganked. Ganking should happen in every lane at least once. I have been in so many games where someone says "You lost as X against Y? That matchup should never lose!" And yet the lane was never ganked but somehow its all X's fault. Take the lazy idea of looking at match ups as black and white and go gank the damn lane. If someone needs a gank and you don't give it to them asap you are not a good teammate.
Gank a lane where you know your teammate already has an upperhand. It seems counter intuitive but ganking a strong lane makes your enemy extremely weak and your teammate very strong. It wont be long till that lane snowballs out of control in your favor and you can move to a weaker lane.
If the gank is lasting longer than 5 seconds you are setting yourself up for a counter gank. If you are successful go push but only if you have 2+ with you and they are strong pushers, otherwise get in and get out.
Gank more at night. Players are less likely to see you and this gives you an upper hand. However, this can be a double edge sword becuase you also suffer from lack of vision. Ganking at night requires you to lock down a target quickly so they cannot juke out of it. Position yourself accordingly and move in. Which brings me to the next essential part of Dota.
Positioning:
Positioning is what separates professionals from the rest of us. Learn it and learn it well because it is required in every game from the moment the creeps spawn to the moment the throne goes down. It is used in laning, ganking, team fighting, and farming. One can know every hero like the back of there hand but if they don't know positioning they don't know Dota. I will try to give tips but its such a subtle concept that one can only get a true grasp of it by watching professionals and high level games. Do you want to be a great Dota player? Make positioning your priority.
If there are no heroes on the mini map stop farming and get back. Stay out of your jungle and hug a tower because more than likely you are being hunted. This is very basic positioning but often times it is the most important and the most forgotten.
Don't ever take the high ground without vision, EVER. Maybe you get away with a for a while but one day you will pay the price and it may cost you the game. I have had it happen as a team before and let me tell you it ain't pretty.
I am not going to explain team fight/gank positioning because they vary too much from game to game. If you want to get better at team positioning/ganking play AOE/Gank heroes and watch professional/high level games. Watch Navi those guys know how to position so insanely well it almost won them a second TI2.
Communication:
You are playing one of the most intense games of communication ever to grace the internet and you don't have a microphone? If you don't have one get one and if you don't want one dont play Dota. Back during WC3 everyone had to type and ping. It was a communication nightmare and playing with people on any voice program was heaven on earth. Now its built in and people still don't use there mic, unbelievable! Communication wins games, period. It can mean there diference of stopping or starting a successful gank, setting up a successful team fight, and giving enemy position on the fly. you can discuss anything instantly and with a game like Dota instantly is VERY important.
Ping or call out a focus target or do both! There is no such thing as too much communication in Dota.
Don't listen to music while playing Dota. Seriously, just stop it.
Calling out lanes is important but don't forgot to call out key items. Do they have wards/sentries? Did enigma get a fast blink dagger?
Talk to your team about everything. If I am in a lane and I need my boots but I am giving farm to our carry all I have to do is ask for a few CS and BAM! I now have my boots. Tell your team what you are building and ask them what they are building.
Composure:
Dota is a psychologically and mentally taxing game. Everyone rages but not everyone knows how to control that rage. There are a lot mechanics/strategic expectations that cause emotions to spin out of control. I am going to point out those mechanics and show you that they aren't as big part of the game as you may think. This is where I inject a bit of philosophy and psychology into my Dota play.
First Blood: We all know the good ol' first blood it means you won or lost the lane right? Wrong. The moment a team lets first blood effect the outcome of a lane/game is the moment you lose the lane/game. What does that mean? It means gank the guy who got first blood. If you gank the guy who just got first blood its like it never happened. What if you can't get the guy? Learn from your mistake and avoid being caught in that position again. First blood only matters if you let it matter as the game goes on it becomes less and less of an advantage. Giving First blood is not a mistake, it happens. The mistake is made when you let it go to your head.
Laning: Losing a lane does not equal losing the game.
As a Dota player ALWAYS be prepared to lose your lane. Being prepared to only win your lane and never lose is so ridiculous to me its laughable. The moment you prepare for only one outcome is the moment you set yourself up for failure.
If you lose your lane have a different approach ready. It can be anything but make it involve your team with either a gank, push, or both. Hell, if you can convince your team to 5 man gank the lost lane and push it go for it. Five man Dota is a great way to bring your team back to the game instead of dwelling on lost lanes.
Team Morale Dota players are their own worst enemies. That guy raging, following your teammates every move, asking them if they even know how to play that hero? That player is losing you the game. Not the guy who just gave up 3 kills to X hero. Public teams lose a lot because they implode from the inside. Players don't know how to respond to mistakes and so it turns into rage. To me they are being lazy Dota players. Instead of helping your team out of a dire situation they decide instead to spit garbage the rest of the game. Those minutes spent raging? Missed opportunities for ganks, comebacks, enemy overextension, pushes, farming, the list goes on. How do I know this? I flamed people all the time back then because it was just part of the game. Eventually while watching replays trying to figure out what went wrong I realized I went wrong. Team morale is a MASSIVE part of Dota that is often never discussed when it should be one of the top priorities. When people feel good they make good decisions.
What do we do with these players? If you have a friend that rages consistently point it out, report, unfriend him and move on. Bam, just like that you made the choice to have 0 tolerance for this kind of childish behavior. Back then no one had accountability but now we have the report system. USE IT! People still don't use it enough. To me its one of the best things ever! I played Dota for years without any kind of justice system and now that its here its amazing. This must be a nine player effort to mute the rager and try to continue on with the game. EVERYONE must report these players not just the guy getting flamed at. If the rager is going to make a spectacle make him pay for it. When a player 9 reports in a game he's thrown in with the rest of the children where he belongs.
That whole "Thick skin" mentality needs to die. You are no longer player WC3 Dota and now have a system that puts the children in there place. Absolutely no exceptions.
Last Hitting/Deny:
If you get good at this you get more gold and they get less exp. I'm not going to explain the importance of this because its drilled into everyones skulls already. Don't get me wrong you will be a better Dota player for learning how farm well. Some take it too far however, so I will leave you with this. Farming is a mechanic within the game of Dota. Make sure you are playing in the game and not in the mechanic
Final words:
I love this game and I will be in Seattle next year to watch the next International. When I was 17 I remember thinking to myself "Wow! Dota is the best game I have ever played online how is it a WC3 custom map!?" The idea was so awesome to me. I felt like I had my own little secret stash of gaming goodness just for me and my internet buddies to play. Well now the secrets out and the consequence couldn't be better. Thank you, Valve for tackling such a juggernaught of a game and keeping true to its charm and seemingly endless strategical beauty. You made the the 17 boy inside me leap for joy and the 24 year old me swim in nostalgic ecstasy.
Please give reason for down voting so we may discuss your disagreement.
Thank you for reading.
TLDR; Sorry but Dota isn't for the lazy.
EDIT: Thanks for the upvotes! I will continue to edit and fine tune the guide. I feel the communication section needs some work. I am heading off to bed cause it is now 3am.
