DOTA 101 - Know What You Are Doing!

Getting Started

I assume all of you who read this already know what Dota is and how to join the game online. So let’s get started!

Warning! If you have only tried to play Dota once or twice, even if you have played it five times, I strongly suggest you to join a game without banlist/ban/BL/pro written on the game title. The reason I tell you this because sometimes people who you will meet in the game don’t like to see their team mate keeps dying or plays poorly, and thus you will receive some complains and bad comments from them although sometimes it helps you to know what you are doing wrong.

You can try to join a game with noob/newb/newbie written on it instead...

Ok, now you have entered the game, the first thing to do is to pick your favorite hero. I assume that you join an -ap/-apem game, so you have a bunch of heroes that you can pick -- or if I can call it “buy” -- either from The Sentinel Taverns or The Scourge Taverns. The complete list of the heroes is here.

You have some amount of gold that depends on how many players are there in your team. You get more gold by killing enemy’s troops (creeps), heroes, and destroying enemy’s towers and buildings. You also get some extra gold periodically thru-out the game, and you get faster gold in em (i.e. –apem) mode.

What you need to do before going to the battle arena is to equip yourself with some useful starting items. Everyone has a different starting gear. For me, I always buy one Scroll of Town Portal, one Ancient Tango of Essifation, and two Gauntlets of Strength no matter what hero I have. The reason I always go for those items are:
1. I need to go back to base especially when my HP is very low, so I can go back quickly using a Scroll of Town Portal since I don’t buy Boots of Speed in the beginning.
2. I need a quick heal but my HP is not high enough yet to use a Flask of Sapphire Water (which means a waste if you use it), so I prefer to have a set of Ancient Tango of Essifation handy.
3. We need everything for our heroes, but I only need more HP to survive and level up in the beginning of the game, thus I choose two Gauntlets of Strength to increase my HP.

The complete list of items is here.



Getting Deeper

Now you have recognized every simple thing in the game. But there are more things that you need to know. This is why Dota never dies – because there are more and more things coming to be tried.

What you need to recognize first is your hero. I’m sure you have noticed that there are three types of hero regardless their attack ranges, which are Agi, Intel, and Strength.

The image above is the attributes of Agi heroes which agility is their primary attributes. Because agility is their primary attributes, every time they gain more agility, their attack damage increases by 1. Usually agility heroes are killer heroes because of their high agility which means high attack damage and high attack speed (see what increases every time you add more agility on the image above). Agility heroes have a low HP although they get more armor when they get more agility. HINT: Play hit and run.

Intel heroes are heroes with magic as their primary weapon. Besides increases amount of mana and its regeneration, because intelligence is their primary attributes, intelligence also increases the attack damage by 1. Usually intelligence heroes are disabler heroes -- they help other heroes to stop, hold, and distract enemy heroes using their magic. Intelligence heroes have a low HP and a high MP. HINT: Range is your friend; don’t get too close with enemies.

And the last is Strength heroes. Every time you increase a strength hero’s strength, automatically you increase its attack damage, hit point (HP), and HP regeneration. Most of the time strength heroes are tankers which means they should be in the front line in every battle. The huge amount of HP makes you think that you are the star of the game. HINT: Selecting items is so important. Without correct items, your hero will be useless.

After you learn what your hero’s primary attributes, you need to learn what magic it has, how to use it, and when the best time to use it.

Magic is good and is so convenient to use. Sometimes you think that you want to use magic all the time even if you are playing a strength or agility hero, thus you use and waste your gold for magic items such as Refresher Orb and Guinsoo’s Schyte of Vyse. No! Just make two Bracers in the beginning of the game and it’s enough (each Bracer gives you +3 intelligence which means 39 (3x13) extra intelligence and mana regeneration speed+3).

“Wow! I saw some math just now!”

Yes, you are right, that’s how you decide what items are the best for your hero. For example Sange and Yasha gives you:

• +16 agility,
• +16 strength,
• +16 attack damage,
• +10% movement speed,
• +10% attack speed, and
• 10% chance of maim.
From there it actually tells you that:
• 16/7= +2.82 extra armor,
• 16x1%= +16% attack speed
• 16x19= +304 extra hit points
• 16x1= +16 HP regeneration

• if your hero is either str or agi, is gains 16 extra attack damage from its strength/ agility, and it also gives you an instant attack damage bonus, thus you get (16x1)+16= +32 attack damage,
• let’s say your movement speed is 350 (you can know by typing –ms in-game), so you get 350+(350x10%)= 385 total movement speed,
• M+(Mx10%) total attack speed where as M is your attack speed value that I assume is your total agility.

• And a chance to maim a target once in ten hits.

Let’s compare what you will get if you buy two Hyperstones and what if you use the money for the second Hyperstone for a Demon Edge. Let’s say your hero’s current attributes are 50 str, 50 agi, 50 intel, and 100 attack damage (others are unconsidered), and let’s ASSUME the speed calculation as M/25seconds which means currently you attack (50/25seconds=2/second) twice per second.

When you buy two Hyperstones:
• Each of it give you +55% attack speed or +110% for two of them,
• 50+(50x110%)= 105 total attack speed,
• 105/25seconds= 4.2 times in a second,
• Your attack damage doesn’t change which is 100.
• Thus you deal 420 damage in a second.
When you buy one Hyperstone and a Demon Edge:
• Demon Edge gives you +36 attack damage,
• Hyperstone gives you +55% attack speed,
• 50+(50x55%)= 77.5 total attack speed,
• 77.5/25seconds= 3.1 times in a second,
• 100+36= 136 total attack damage,

• And thus, you deal 421.6 in a second. Lol only 1.6 different after you spend 300 more on Demon Edge! But I think its worthy since you can only store 6 items in total.

So, that’s the basic stuff to play Dota. I think you have learned enough and know enough what items are good for your chosen hero. Good luck and have fun!

ALL CREDITS GO TO ME (DHIMOET) and Dota-Allstars.com.