Ok, I need help (Dota)

[Dragnskull]

Some of you might remember me playing w/ yall, others might not know ive ever even touched DoTA

well, i suck BALLS at it.

I've tried and tried and tried, admittedly ive gotten a bit better now, but i still suck hardcore at it

its driving me nuts cause its the only game i cant play worth a crap...

with that said, i need some suggestions, a newbies guide to dota sorta...pointers, a good char to start with, items to get, how to play it, anything that will make me play better


seriously...im lucky to get 1 kill in a game...

[Dream_Walker]

last hit, deny, run when you dont see heroes, use skills appropriately, know when to attack/defend.

[electricmole]

I have a question.

Have you played warcraft 3? Maybe at least the campaign mission? Do you know the basic commands? Like moving your units etc…? or simply have you played other rts games?

if your answer is no, then you need more exposure with rts type of games. And it will take some time to learn dota.

If your answer is yes. Then there isn’t any problem for you to improve more. You don’t suck to begin with. The real noobs or the one that sucks are those who haven’t even played any rts or hardly played it and then just played dota suddenly. They are not familiar with how the game works, they move the cursor slowly and are afraid to click multiple times. These are the ones that sucks and needs really serious help in playing dota. Its like its their first time using a computer.

You on the other hand, only needs a little more practice and more time to play.

First of all practice against AI opponents you can download it on dotaportal.com. It’s very helpful since you get to feel more about the game which is the most important part. You need to really feel how the game should be played and know how it works.

Ok, some tips and advices. Its on random.

You need to be careful with your character or hero all the time. You have hit points, right. Basically if you have fewer healths the easier it is for you to get killed by enemy heroes. So don’t just go wondering around in the map. Remember enemy creeps also hits you, even do they do less damage it’s a big factor for you getting killed by a suspecting enemy near you since you already lessen you hit points.

Farm or simply kill creeps. Last hit on enemy creeps will give you gold. And gold allows you to purchase items. Don’t be lazy, do your best always every time you play and get that last hit. And just farm more. Items are the key to victory and ownage aside from skills and level of your hero. So farm hard.

Farm for the right item. I will not tell you which item to purchase since you will basically know more about it as you keep on progressing. You can see what the items are for in the pop up window whenever you drag the cursor on them. So pick one which suits your hero better.

Don’t waste time. Keep yourself busy either by farming and leveling up or hunting down enemy heroes. But remember while doing it be careful as enemy heroes are just around and ready to hunt you as they are also doing the same thing farming and trying to kill an enemy hero(you).

Don’t be afraid to click fast and hard with your mouse. Like all pros they are fast and very active in any situations. So be always active and aware with whats happening around. Check the map, move your character when you feel its not safe and go to a safer location usually with your teammate or near your tower. You should always know what to do (farm, keep safe, or kill/hunt enemy heroes). After doing one thing proceed to the next one, like if you killed an enemy hero and you got only few hit points go back to your base and regenerate your life then go back farming or hunting with your teammate or by yourself(if you are already good).

Know the skill of your hero. If you know what they do, then use them according to it. You can also farm with your skill. Know how and when to use your spells and skills. A mistake would coz you your life. And always….

Check you mana and life all the time. Keep in check that you have enough mana to use your skills and spells. And enough life to be safe or to make a battle with your enemies.

Know your opponents skills and spells. So that you can counter them or will anticipate what they will do to keep you safe or turn the battle on your favor.

Since your just starting, try skeleton king. Just go stun your opponent, click attack on him, stun again and so on.

Just remember to retreat at the right moment if your losing the battle.

Don’t just go head on to a battle, know your opponent and what will come up. If your enemy got better items and higher level don’t fight him unless if your with an ally or you can set up and use your skills and spells perfectly to kill the enemy.

[Ntrik_]

teamplay is the key

and always carry tps if you dont have boots of travel


if you can deny/last hit creeps fairly well (getting your cs up to 100/xx under 30 min is decent), then you just need to keep playing and become familiar to all the heroes in the game.

[electricmole]

agree.

if you already know the basics. the next thing to know is teamplay makes things easier and will be the deciding factor for winning battles.

another additional advice.

move your mouse fast. dont be stuck and be afraid. this is what i observed a noob usually do. move and click fast with your mouse. and be always alert and know what to do and expect.

[Jenny]

Last hitting and denying isn't really important when you're learning. You'll do good enough just attack-moving creep waves. Start off with a ranged agility hero like Drow Ranger or Viper (both easy to survive and play with) and progress higher. Or you can do what I do and just play AR until you can play any hero.

[Dragnskull]

well first off, im not a WCIII fan, never really got into it, but my brother and a few friends have basically forced me to start playing DOTA, sadly they have no idea how to teach/help someone.

my brothers pretty good at guiding me, my friends hwoever have a problem with communication

ive started doign better by plyaing AP games and choozing Tinker, ive started staying out of hte negatives (well, at least the BIG negatives) in my score

srsly ic ant tell how ppl know when to run and whatnot, ill be fighting a mob, and my entire team will haul ass in a split second and ill get ganked, and then im like "WTF HOWD U KNWO THEY WERE COMIGN?!" but no one ever answers >.>

[Jenny]

One thing you could do until you become more wary of when ganks are coming or when the other team is pushing is buying sentry wards, or whichever gives vision (and not true sight) and put them in the fogged areas like in the woods or on shadowed ramps. It will give you a warning of what's coming from the sides.

[electricmole]

Originally Posted by Jenny

One thing you could do until you become more wary of when ganks are coming or when the other team is pushing is buying sentry wards, or whichever gives vision (and not true sight) and put them in the fogged areas like in the woods or on shadowed ramps. It will give you a warning of what's coming from the sides.

good advice but i wont suggest that for begginers.

just use your common sense, your enemy will always want to kill or hunt you so if you don't see them anywhere it means that they might just be hiding and waiting to ganked and kill you mercilessly.

@Dragnskull

I think you should play against ai opponents first. The first thing to do if your having a problem playing with real opponents in your first few games.

[Jenny]

AI map would be good for familiarizing yourself with some characters, builds, and items, but the AI is pretty bad. They're like terrible. It's basically like facing a bunch of feeders.

[electricmole]

the recent dota ai maps now have good ai enemies especially if you put them in insane.

yes with ai oppoanents you can pratice your hero skill and see the effect. which item is good and such for your hero.

[Ntrik_]

Originally Posted by Jenny

Last hitting and denying isn't really important when you're learning. You'll do good enough just attack-moving creep waves. Start off with a ranged agility hero like Drow Ranger or Viper (both easy to survive and play with) and progress higher. Or you can do what I do and just play AR until you can play any hero.

i dunno i think otherwise.. last hitting and denying is ALL you need to know about dota if you're first starting off

if you want to practice last hitting or denying, play melee str heroes or sniper. Sniper is by far easiest hero to last hit or deny with due to his mad missile speed

and to avoid ganks... just look in your minimap, or the chat. If you see at least 1 or 2 heroes missing in the minimap, you should take care of yourself. Never go beyond the river of the map by yourself, unelss you know that you cna take care of your self.

and playing against ai is useless, AI tend to get screwed up sometimes, so **** that lol


and.. if you really want to avoid ganks, you should try ganking lawl especially with tinker, tinker is like build for ganks in the early game

[electricmole]

^ even pro dota players still play ai. if you want to practice your hero at level 6 to try some stuffs or test item builds asap you just play ai and use cheat.

[Ntrik_]

Originally Posted by electricmole

^ even pro dota players still play ai. if you want to practice your hero at level 6 to try some stuffs or test item builds asap you just play ai and use cheat.

never heard of pro dota players playing against AI... personally i'd rather play in TDA or play with the clan members if I were one of them...

and

sometimes AI heroes just dont come out from the base after they die.. unless they fixed that bug then w.e.

[electricmole]

not to sound arrogant but *cough* *cough* im kinda myself is a *cough* pro in pub no real team *cough* *cough* games.

well anyway if ever i join a pro international tournament team, hell yes my skills would benefit them very well and i can easily adjust with them.

believe me i play ai and the recent ones, and its not like they're all dumbed and buggy like it used to be.

[Jenny]

Sniper is a terrible hero to learn on. I stand by the fact that Sniper is a terrible hero in general. Nukers ruin him and hero killers trash him. The only time a Sniper is going to beat you is if you let him farm his ass off and feed off your team. Which in that point of view, you're beating yourself.

I've played the newest AI map and the AI is still pretty dumb.

[electricmole]

yes the ai is still dumb but killing them is still hard specially if their in groups and sometimes you are the one who will end up dead.

yes, a sniper with complete items late game really hurts.

[Ntrik_]

Originally Posted by electricmole

not to sound arrogant but *cough* *cough* im kinda myself is a *cough* pro in pub no real team *cough* *cough* games.

well anyway if ever i join a pro international tournament team, hell yes my skills would benefit them very well and i can easily adjust with them.

believe me i play ai and the recent ones, and its not like they're all dumbed and buggy like it used to be.

playing inhouse or scrim isnt pub....

and jenny, u said viper and drow is easy hero to learn on... but ironically they get ganked as much as sniper in lanes and are as much vulnerable compared to sniper.. i was merely stating sniper is one of the easy heroes to learn last hit/deny with cuz of his attack animation.


and if you cant gank, and u keep getting ganked, buy obs ward and put it in the rivers around where the runes spawn. Or in your jungles.

[Jenny]

Drow and Viper kill easier and have easier ways of escaping than Sniper. Sniper can die from being chased head on. Drow and Viper both have slows. Viper can kill extremely fast and Drow can do so pretty well also and/or silence. Viper can also last hit/deny extremely easily and also has the best missile harrass in the game. You can also incorporate early stat builds into both heroes giving them a whole lot more survivability than Sniper.

[electricmole]

^ well all those 3 heroes are actually not newbie frinedly, if you use them, your teammate will just get mad at you all the time usually not doing anything good for your team and just being a fodder (agi noob are easily pwnd).

so thats why its better to suggest a str type of characcter for noobs like leoric, the stun is easy to learn and easily tells you what it does giving you that feeling how dota actually works and feel for the first few times your playing it. the only downfall it might bore the newbie playing him.

silence/ice/and neutral creeping of dro are just to much micro and to think for a newbie. sniper is lousy as well without items. a noob sniper is usually what people likes to kill since sniper has no escape mechanics and low hp.