So i just got into the beta, and honestly have no idea where to start.. i mean i have a general idea of what is going on but thats about it, very limited experience with mobas,
So i just got into the beta, and honestly have no idea where to start.. i mean i have a general idea of what is going on but thats about it, very limited experience with mobas,
Start by skimming through the opening post, particularly the "New to the game and want to learn?" part
mts I am no pro but I know the basics. If you want more hands on experience than the guides (nothing wrong with them, some people just learn better diving right in) we can play some bot matches sometimes. Steam id is in sig. Also if anybody needs more dota friends go ahead and add me too
I'm sure everyone has an invite already, but if not, I have two to give away. Just send me a PM with your steamid if you still need one. First come, first serve.
Here's an extra little blocking especially useful for the long lanes. I've told a few of you about it before, if only in an oblique way (i.e., just telling someone to do it without explaining the reason for it).
When you're blocking you can intentionally let a single creep out ahead. The ideal would be the ranged creep, but any will work. The point is that a single creep will be focused by all the enemy creeps, while if your entire wave arrives at the same time they will be targeted evenly. The single creep will die very quickly, giving you an easy deny and pushing the lane toward your tower. This is best for your long lane, because you want that to be counter-pushed as much as possible. In the short lane you don't really need to block that much at all, though you can still let the ranged creep go first. Even works mid.
50% of the time when I try to split creeps in a pub my lane partner comes in and starts blocking the guys in front. Nothing to do but groan at an indicator that it's going to be a lousy game.
rapier is a mandatory purchase when you are winning the game and you can afford it
it's also a legitimate game ender when it's on certain heroes who can be confident they won't lose it or when it's coupled with aegis. you just demolish buildings, even through BD protection.
Here's an extra little blocking especially useful for the long lanes. I've told a few of you about it before, if only in an oblique way (i.e., just telling someone to do it without explaining the reason for it).
When you're blocking you can intentionally let a single creep out ahead. The ideal would be the ranged creep, but any will work. The point is that a single creep will be focused by all the enemy creeps, while if your entire wave arrives at the same time they will be targeted evenly. The single creep will die very quickly, giving you an easy deny and pushing the lane toward your tower. This is best for your long lane, because you want that to be counter-pushed as much as possible. In the short lane you don't really need to block that much at all, though you can still let the ranged creep go first. Even works mid.
yeah I've just started doing this with the ranged creep.
Someone posted a dota1 video of some pro player playing pugna and showing how to lane against shadowfiend. It was REALLY informative. And he showed how important blocking is in real pro games. Looked at replays and showed how blocking just lead to complete lane dominance.
5 carries in pub games is very doable if the other team doesn't know how to shut you down early. If you can play defensively long enough (don't die, don't lose towers), and all 5 players know to do this, each of the carries can effectively come into their own by mid/late game. Any team with a modicum of brainpower, however, just needs to push hard and fast against you - keeping a team of carries on the defensive in the mid to late game will ensure they are underfarmed. Hell, most carries generally don't bring much to full team fights anyway, but now they're also under-leveled and under-geared to boot.
If it works, though, you've effectively ensured you are going to have one long and boring game.
I tend to have the reverse strategy of Spawnbroker's; I'll take the optimistic (read: gullible) approach and hope the other carries know what they're doing and I'll fill the support/pusher role. Either method is a hell of a gamble, unfortunately, and is a testament to why pubs suck.
5 carries in pub games is very doable because shutting carries down requires teamwork and competence--pubs dont have that. To get 5 men together to push towers down against a team of 5 carries is tough to coordinate. Someone always wants to farm a lane or the jungle or whatever. It's very easy to fall to 5 carries. Maybe not 5 super hard carries, but carries? It happens, and I hate it more than anything.
Blocking properly and well is a huge skill. And not just with creeps. The first time you support body block to get your team first blood you will smile for the rest of the game and not even care if you lose. It's so great.
oh hey I haven't been playing this much recently but I just got two invites to give out. If you want one, first two to PM me and add me on steam get them!
Is it bad or hateful of me that I loathe having non-English speakers on my team when I'm queuing on US servers? I'm the guy who cringes anytime I see someone drop the n-bomb (yeah, I know race and nationality aren't the same thing), but I start frothing at the mouth when people on my team refuse to communicate in the language of the nation in which the game servers are located. It is damn near impossible to form strategies or win when you don't have a clue what each other is saying (although generally, the Spanish speaking players usually understand English but refuse to use it in games).
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
@mts: What's your steam name? I am certainly no pro, but I've gotten past the "jesus, what do I do?" stage, and I'd be more than happy to play some games with you in that "no pressure" mode, where if you screw up, I completely don't care.
@mts: What's your steam name? I am certainly no pro, but I've gotten past the "jesus, what do I do?" stage, and I'd be more than happy to play some games with you in that "no pressure" mode, where if you screw up, I completely don't care.
Same here. Also, join the PennyArcade chat channel in game. There's almost always games going, and everyone I've played with so far is very friendly and forgiving. They are also very helpful and happy to answer questions in game.
Some people say randoming your hero is the way to go, that way you get a chance to learn everyone and aren't hampered by playing the same heroes repeatedly. I think starting with one or two heroes you are comfortable is the better route to go. You can spend less time worrying about what your hero does and spend more time learning about the universal mechanics of the game (easy lane vs. hard lane, last hitting, denies, neutral creeps, runes, etc.).
its in my sig, but its Dr. Sig killingsworth, for some reason i thought we were already friends
yea, that is exactly what i am looking for. though i might not be able to play until sunday at least since my inlaws are in town so computer time is limited
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
buahaha, that name is hilarious mts...because right now mine is D. Baggins III, Esq.
5 carries in pub games is very doable because shutting carries down requires teamwork and competence--pubs dont have that. To get 5 men together to push towers down against a team of 5 carries is tough to coordinate. Someone always wants to farm a lane or the jungle or whatever. It's very easy to fall to 5 carries. Maybe not 5 super hard carries, but carries? It happens, and I hate it more than anything.
I've been seeing all carry teams a lot more lately. It makes sense in low skill pub queues because 5 carry teams can push the shit out towers if they group up. And once they get a lead going, it's very difficult to stop. It's like once that Ursa gets his vlad, if he's smart he's going straight to Rosh for the Aegis, and then they can usually make a straight push to your rax because Ursa is so gnarly to deal with mid game. And to fight it means not feeding early kills, effective rune warding, and keeping lanes pushed, something that yep...takes coordination.
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3cl1ps3I will build a labyrinth to house the cheeseRegistered Userregular
Is it bad or hateful of me that I loathe having non-English speakers on my team when I'm queuing on US servers? I'm the guy who cringes anytime I see someone drop the n-bomb (yeah, I know race and nationality aren't the same thing), but I start frothing at the mouth when people on my team refuse to communicate in the language of the nation in which the game servers are located. It is damn near impossible to form strategies or win when you don't have a clue what each other is saying (although generally, the Spanish speaking players usually understand English but refuse to use it in games).
I don't see a problem with this. I mean, as long as you don't hate them for not speaking english :P but I don't think wanting to be able to communicate with your team is a bad thing.
Is it bad or hateful of me that I loathe having non-English speakers on my team when I'm queuing on US servers? I'm the guy who cringes anytime I see someone drop the n-bomb (yeah, I know race and nationality aren't the same thing), but I start frothing at the mouth when people on my team refuse to communicate in the language of the nation in which the game servers are located. It is damn near impossible to form strategies or win when you don't have a clue what each other is saying (although generally, the Spanish speaking players usually understand English but refuse to use it in games).
I don't see a problem with this. I mean, as long as you don't hate them for not speaking english :P but I don't think wanting to be able to communicate with your team is a bad thing.
I don't hate them for being from a primarily non-English speaking country, I just hate that they aren't speaking English on US servers. I mean, if they can't speak English, that's one thing. It isn't my place to tell them they can't play this game because they don't speak my language. It's when they can speak English but refuse to, even when there are usually at least two or three people on the team who only speak English.
I would never hate someone because of their race or nationality, ever. I just don't want our team to be at an automatic disadvantage because we can't communicate properly.
Is it bad or hateful of me that I loathe having non-English speakers on my team when I'm queuing on US servers? I'm the guy who cringes anytime I see someone drop the n-bomb (yeah, I know race and nationality aren't the same thing), but I start frothing at the mouth when people on my team refuse to communicate in the language of the nation in which the game servers are located. It is damn near impossible to form strategies or win when you don't have a clue what each other is saying (although generally, the Spanish speaking players usually understand English but refuse to use it in games).
I don't see a problem with this. I mean, as long as you don't hate them for not speaking english :P but I don't think wanting to be able to communicate with your team is a bad thing.
I don't hate them for being from a primarily non-English speaking country, I just hate that they aren't speaking English on US servers. I mean, if they can't speak English, that's one thing. It isn't my place to tell them they can't play this game because they don't speak my language. It's when they can speak English but refuse to, even when there are usually at least two or three people on the team who only speak English.
I would never hate someone because of their race or nationality, ever. I just don't want our team to be at an automatic disadvantage because we can't communicate properly.
Right, I was mostly making a joke. Your post was obviously not racist :P but it is super frustrating, in team based games, to not be able to talk to your team, especially because coordination is so important in Dota. I mean, there's non-verbal communication like pings and stuff, but sometimes you need words.
Is it bad or hateful of me that I loathe having non-English speakers on my team when I'm queuing on US servers? I'm the guy who cringes anytime I see someone drop the n-bomb (yeah, I know race and nationality aren't the same thing), but I start frothing at the mouth when people on my team refuse to communicate in the language of the nation in which the game servers are located. It is damn near impossible to form strategies or win when you don't have a clue what each other is saying (although generally, the Spanish speaking players usually understand English but refuse to use it in games).
I don't see a problem with this. I mean, as long as you don't hate them for not speaking english :P but I don't think wanting to be able to communicate with your team is a bad thing.
I don't hate them for being from a primarily non-English speaking country, I just hate that they aren't speaking English on US servers. I mean, if they can't speak English, that's one thing. It isn't my place to tell them they can't play this game because they don't speak my language. It's when they can speak English but refuse to, even when there are usually at least two or three people on the team who only speak English.
I would never hate someone because of their race or nationality, ever. I just don't want our team to be at an automatic disadvantage because we can't communicate properly.
Right, I was mostly making a joke. Your post was obviously not racist :P but it is super frustrating, in team based games, to not be able to talk to your team, especially because coordination is so important in Dota. I mean, there's non-verbal communication like pings and stuff, but sometimes you need words.
Definitely. Pings can mean so many different things, too:
- Attack
- Enemy is here, beware
- Come here so we can gank
And I didn't think you were calling me out. :P I just wanted to clarify so no one thinks I'm just some hateful sum'bitch.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Yeah, I am with 3clipse. I think the point you are making is fine. This is a team game, it's not StarCraft. If my opponent in SC2 can't speak English, I don't care. It becomes much more frustrating in a MOBA where I need to communicate with people.
We had a guy in an LoL game I was playing the other night that refused to speak English, but it was obvious he could understand it (when we would say something, he would follow the plan/order), but he would just spam pings around the map rather than typing out something to us....even if it's broken English, it's better than nothing!
I play a lot of bot games, so if anyone is just starting feel free to add me and i'll be happy to play. I tend to play weird hours (afternoons and super later nights EST) so if you play around then and see me around feel free to message me.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
5 carries in pub games is very doable because shutting carries down requires teamwork and competence--pubs dont have that. To get 5 men together to push towers down against a team of 5 carries is tough to coordinate. Someone always wants to farm a lane or the jungle or whatever. It's very easy to fall to 5 carries. Maybe not 5 super hard carries, but carries? It happens, and I hate it more than anything.
I've been seeing all carry teams a lot more lately. It makes sense in low skill pub queues because 5 carry teams can push the shit out towers if they group up. And once they get a lead going, it's very difficult to stop. It's like once that Ursa gets his vlad, if he's smart he's going straight to Rosh for the Aegis, and then they can usually make a straight push to your rax because Ursa is so gnarly to deal with mid game. And to fight it means not feeding early kills, effective rune warding, and keeping lanes pushed, something that yep...takes coordination.
yup!
also, everyone wants to play a carry, and with good reason! You have all the fun and none of the responsibility. Your job is to farm and take kills. That's fun!
The supports job is completely and utterly unrewarding in a pub because its completely selfless: buy wards, buy courier, make it fly, avoid getting farm, avoid getting kills, babysit... its horrid! and then lategame you're 10 levels lower than everyone and getting two shot by the BKBed carry. Why would you do that for a team who can't appreciate it or won't take advantage of it? Fuck that! I'm not suffering so some 13 year old asshole who is going to yell at me can farm his terrible build.
man nothing does as much to make me racist/xenophobic as playing MOBAs with foreigners. and they're ALWAYS bad. ALWAYS. One time in a hundred you get that well oiled team of Brazilians, but 99/100 time brazilians, russians, whoever, they're AWFUL. Maybe its just their lack of teamwork, but they're horrendous. Almost uniformly. Its much better in dota2 than in HoN. I'm over getting mad at them, I just roll with it now, but goddamn were they terrible in HoN.
I don't hate them for being from a primarily non-English speaking country, I just hate that they aren't speaking English on US servers. I mean, if they can't speak English, that's one thing. It isn't my place to tell them they can't play this game because they don't speak my language. It's when they can speak English but refuse to, even when there are usually at least two or three people on the team who only speak English.
I would never hate someone because of their race or nationality, ever. I just don't want our team to be at an automatic disadvantage because we can't communicate properly.
i can answer this:
i live in brazil so i know what you are talking about, the reason you get so many latin americans in the us servers is because you cant find games for shit in the latin american servers. i see how this can be frustrating but just try asking them to communicate in english a lot of us know at least basic english.
anyways i also wanted to ask: do you play with auto attacking on or off? i heard purge say something about turning it off in a video.
I play with it on and use s-spam to animation loop my character when I want to "wind up" an auto-attack but actually not release it until I am ready.
yah this is how i do it too, but what can be really annoying is that i think when you auto attack you go for the creep with the highest health so sometimes this makes me miss last hits.
also i dont know if its just me but spirit breaker seems to have an AWFUL attack animation, so hard to last hit with him.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Actually, S is "attack closest enemy". I don't use it to do the actual attack, I just use it as a wind up. When I want to do the actual attack, I will right click the mob.
Though, I guess Purges way is better for what I am doing. If I could turn auto-attack off, there is no need for S-spam....yeah, I am turning it off when I get home. I basically use S-spam to get the same effect. Don't move, don't attack, just stand there until I am ready to unleash an attack.
I play with it on and use s-spam to animation loop my character when I want to "wind up" an auto-attack but actually not release it until I am ready.
yah this is how i do it too, but what can be really annoying is that i think when you auto attack you go for the creep with the highest health so sometimes this makes me miss last hits.
also i dont know if its just me but spirit breaker seems to have an AWFUL attack animation, so hard to last hit with him.
SBs attack animation is funky, but he does SO much damage it shouldnt matter.
I run around in little circles till im ready to autoattack. no turning autoattack off in dot1 and I never got into spamming stop for some reason. I think its a matter of personal preference?
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Running around in circles is what I do in LoL (or, more running back forth in a line), because that's really all you have....but in this with stop, and turning off auto-attack, there are other options.
That said, if running back and forth is what you are comfy with, I'd just keep it.
there are a couple times auto attacking stuff has messed me up bad so i should prob. turn it off but ehhhhhhhhhhh
not being able to play dotes and only watch it sucks T.T
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
As someone who has a beta key through some combination of magic and luck, I was actually surprised how difficult it is to find beta keys when you want one. Been trying to find one for weeks for a friend so we could play together, but nada. I keep hoping Valve is going to gift me with a couple of invites soon.
Running around in circles is what I do in LoL (or, more running back forth in a line), because that's really all you have....but in this with stop, and turning off auto-attack, there are other options.
That said, if running back and forth is what you are comfy with, I'd just keep it.
S is stop in league of legends too. It just doesn't automatically attempt to restart your attack like it does in Dota2. If you turn off auto attack S will behave the same in both LoL and Dota.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
As I'm learning, I've been trying to watch Blitz and Barny whenever they stream on twitch.tv. They might not be Dendi level players, but they are both quite good and very knowledgeable of game mechanics. The reason I like watching them is they provide heavy commentary when they play - why they did something, why something they tried failed, good item builds, etc.
Watching guys like Demon is fun, too, but he is as quiet as a church mouse when he plays.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
I watch a lot of Blitz, though I usually have to turn him off when he gets in his "moods", where he wants to argue with everyone. Some of his regular friends he plays with are funny too. I know he plays a lot with Megumixbear, for those who know her from the SC2 scene.
Was it originally intended in an earlier version of vanilla DotA to restrict picks to the side they belong to? It seems odd to have "good vs. evil" when it doesn't have any impact on who is fighting for which side, especially when their lore often references their allegiance to Dire or Radiance.
in wc3 dota the 'default' pick mode is actually the side locked version, which is the way dota was originally designed - which is why you have heroes that are rough analogs of each other on opposite teams (Lina/Lion).
but allpick and other modes that aren't sidelocked are popular (rarely if ever see normal pick in wc3, not even in dota2) and better and so the game became designed around those instead
Posts
Start by skimming through the opening post, particularly the "New to the game and want to learn?" part
When you're blocking you can intentionally let a single creep out ahead. The ideal would be the ranged creep, but any will work. The point is that a single creep will be focused by all the enemy creeps, while if your entire wave arrives at the same time they will be targeted evenly. The single creep will die very quickly, giving you an easy deny and pushing the lane toward your tower. This is best for your long lane, because you want that to be counter-pushed as much as possible. In the short lane you don't really need to block that much at all, though you can still let the ranged creep go first. Even works mid.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
mandatory? :P
yeah I've just started doing this with the ranged creep.
Someone posted a dota1 video of some pro player playing pugna and showing how to lane against shadowfiend. It was REALLY informative. And he showed how important blocking is in real pro games. Looked at replays and showed how blocking just lead to complete lane dominance.
5 carries in pub games is very doable because shutting carries down requires teamwork and competence--pubs dont have that. To get 5 men together to push towers down against a team of 5 carries is tough to coordinate. Someone always wants to farm a lane or the jungle or whatever. It's very easy to fall to 5 carries. Maybe not 5 super hard carries, but carries? It happens, and I hate it more than anything.
just want to hand holding/jumping right in advice. inky i will hit you up
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
stream
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
Same here. Also, join the PennyArcade chat channel in game. There's almost always games going, and everyone I've played with so far is very friendly and forgiving. They are also very helpful and happy to answer questions in game.
Some people say randoming your hero is the way to go, that way you get a chance to learn everyone and aren't hampered by playing the same heroes repeatedly. I think starting with one or two heroes you are comfortable is the better route to go. You can spend less time worrying about what your hero does and spend more time learning about the universal mechanics of the game (easy lane vs. hard lane, last hitting, denies, neutral creeps, runes, etc.).
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
yea, that is exactly what i am looking for. though i might not be able to play until sunday at least since my inlaws are in town so computer time is limited
I've been seeing all carry teams a lot more lately. It makes sense in low skill pub queues because 5 carry teams can push the shit out towers if they group up. And once they get a lead going, it's very difficult to stop. It's like once that Ursa gets his vlad, if he's smart he's going straight to Rosh for the Aegis, and then they can usually make a straight push to your rax because Ursa is so gnarly to deal with mid game. And to fight it means not feeding early kills, effective rune warding, and keeping lanes pushed, something that yep...takes coordination.
I don't see a problem with this. I mean, as long as you don't hate them for not speaking english :P but I don't think wanting to be able to communicate with your team is a bad thing.
I don't hate them for being from a primarily non-English speaking country, I just hate that they aren't speaking English on US servers. I mean, if they can't speak English, that's one thing. It isn't my place to tell them they can't play this game because they don't speak my language. It's when they can speak English but refuse to, even when there are usually at least two or three people on the team who only speak English.
I would never hate someone because of their race or nationality, ever. I just don't want our team to be at an automatic disadvantage because we can't communicate properly.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
Right, I was mostly making a joke. Your post was obviously not racist :P but it is super frustrating, in team based games, to not be able to talk to your team, especially because coordination is so important in Dota. I mean, there's non-verbal communication like pings and stuff, but sometimes you need words.
Definitely. Pings can mean so many different things, too:
- Attack
- Enemy is here, beware
- Come here so we can gank
And I didn't think you were calling me out. :P I just wanted to clarify so no one thinks I'm just some hateful sum'bitch.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
We had a guy in an LoL game I was playing the other night that refused to speak English, but it was obvious he could understand it (when we would say something, he would follow the plan/order), but he would just spam pings around the map rather than typing out something to us....even if it's broken English, it's better than nothing!
Grah! I have to go to class, but all I wanna do is Dotuhhhh!!!
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
yup!
also, everyone wants to play a carry, and with good reason! You have all the fun and none of the responsibility. Your job is to farm and take kills. That's fun!
The supports job is completely and utterly unrewarding in a pub because its completely selfless: buy wards, buy courier, make it fly, avoid getting farm, avoid getting kills, babysit... its horrid! and then lategame you're 10 levels lower than everyone and getting two shot by the BKBed carry. Why would you do that for a team who can't appreciate it or won't take advantage of it? Fuck that! I'm not suffering so some 13 year old asshole who is going to yell at me can farm his terrible build.
man nothing does as much to make me racist/xenophobic as playing MOBAs with foreigners. and they're ALWAYS bad. ALWAYS. One time in a hundred you get that well oiled team of Brazilians, but 99/100 time brazilians, russians, whoever, they're AWFUL. Maybe its just their lack of teamwork, but they're horrendous. Almost uniformly. Its much better in dota2 than in HoN. I'm over getting mad at them, I just roll with it now, but goddamn were they terrible in HoN.
i live in brazil so i know what you are talking about, the reason you get so many latin americans in the us servers is because you cant find games for shit in the latin american servers. i see how this can be frustrating but just try asking them to communicate in english a lot of us know at least basic english.
anyways i also wanted to ask: do you play with auto attacking on or off? i heard purge say something about turning it off in a video.
also i dont know if its just me but spirit breaker seems to have an AWFUL attack animation, so hard to last hit with him.
Though, I guess Purges way is better for what I am doing. If I could turn auto-attack off, there is no need for S-spam....yeah, I am turning it off when I get home. I basically use S-spam to get the same effect. Don't move, don't attack, just stand there until I am ready to unleash an attack.
SBs attack animation is funky, but he does SO much damage it shouldnt matter.
I run around in little circles till im ready to autoattack. no turning autoattack off in dot1 and I never got into spamming stop for some reason. I think its a matter of personal preference?
That said, if running back and forth is what you are comfy with, I'd just keep it.
not being able to play dotes and only watch it sucks T.T
S is stop in league of legends too. It just doesn't automatically attempt to restart your attack like it does in Dota2. If you turn off auto attack S will behave the same in both LoL and Dota.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Watching guys like Demon is fun, too, but he is as quiet as a church mouse when he plays.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
can one team have a hero from the dire and the radiant or is it limited to whatever side you are on?
You can have heroes from both on the same team. Its not segregated in game.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
XBL: InvaderJims
Bnet: Pudgestomp#11153
but allpick and other modes that aren't sidelocked are popular (rarely if ever see normal pick in wc3, not even in dota2) and better and so the game became designed around those instead