10 BEGINNER Questions for Dota 2.

Yarcofin · 1 day

I disagree with points 1 and 2...

I came from Starcraft 2 where many players of that game (myself included) have a pretty serious disorder known as "ladder anxiety" where I'd rather read about strategy and learn the game, watch other people play the game, pace around my house or do ANYTHING other than actually enjoying it and playing it.

It's a goddamn game, it's meant to be played and enjoyed. I have fun playing Dota at the moment even when I lose and don't have to worry about my league or ranking. After a year of playing Starcraft and trying hard to be a Masters League (Global top 2%) player one day, I realized I never will so I should just enjoy whatever game I play, at whatever skill level I am capable of. I'm new to Dota and the other people I'm getting matched with are also new and half of them suck more than me, but we're having fun.

If you have never played Dota before then I agree... you should spend a day playing in bot matches at least before you hop into your first game. When you try a new hero, you should read the wiki, watch a guide video, and play a bot match before using it on ladder. To not do so is irresponsible and discourteous to your team. But when we get to the point that Dota 2 becomes a job and you have to make sure you have gone to the bathroom and won't be interrupted for the next hour before every match you play and hype yourself up until you're bordering on being sick before you play, then you have lost the point of playing to begin with.

If I get to High skill bracket one day I will be elated, but I'm playing for fun first and foremost. And fun is what's going to keep me playing daily and continue improving, not the pressure to succeed from the community acting like a high expectations parent.

jackwentwild · 1 day

Dota 2 is not a game to have fun...

Doesn't matter how you end that sentence... this ideology is what creates poor gaming communities.

Shaqsquatch · 1 day

"Don't cross the river alone" is really the best advice for new players.

Yes, there are situations when you can and should cross the river alone, but as a new player you're not going to recognize these situations and likely won't be able to capitalize on them.

chewiie · 1 day

"Dota 2 is not a game to have fun with as a beginner..." How incredibly stupid.

Torturer · 1 day

so negative

enjoyingbread · 1 day

The first point you have is something that will only make new players not want to even give DotA a try.

You can definitely have fun being a beginner in DotA.

Ubbermann · 1 day

You'd be surprised just how much fun people who have no idea what on earth they're doing have with Dota2.

It's the "I got no idea what I'm doing, but it's sure is fun" effect.

Kexx · 1 day

seems like someone was mad at losing "because of their teammates" and decided to do this, he seems incredibly pissed.

haburka · 1 day

I'm still bad at carrying tp scrolls. It's hard.

fatfree · 1 day

I don't understand how this trash got to the front page of /r/dota2... "if you want to have fun, play against bots?" Seriously? Is this what we're upvoting these days?

Tome_of_Knowledge · 2012-10-23T08:16:02+00:00

This just got posted to/r/gaming and is now turning heaps of people away from playing dota2, good work

revokatt · 1 day

I think there's a problem in our community where we often express ourselves in blunt, sometimes rude ways.

Telling people this game isn't about fun is never a good idea. It's a game! It should be fun, for god sake!

Telling carries to "grow up" is plain silly.

This idea that the only way to improve is ~~ladder~~ MM queue ad infinitum is also ridiculous. It's a great idea for beginners to play against bots, a "safe space" to learn/try stuff. Bots and bot co-op matches are one of the best casual-enticing tools Dota 2 has.

This faux-hardcoreness isn't helping, in my opinion.

SidewaysGate · 1 day

So, I may be talking out of my ass here, but usually when you want to convince someone of something you don't intentionally antagonize them. From the writing it seems like you're a very pissed off anime girl and the "DotACorp" just forced you to teach me how to play instead of your baby brother. I'd recommend adjusting the tone.

Simspidey · 1 day

I HATE the mentality (and I hear my friends on League say it all the time too) that if you want to "have fun", you play bots. What?!? Has it really gotten to the point where winning is more important than having fun? That's depressing.

najner · 1 day

I don't understand why would you tell people to grow just because he has to support his 4 carry team setup? People play what they want and how they want, as shocking as it might be to you.

I do get your point though. It's better if you change the tip or wording to actually pick a hero to fit your team composition.

verynayce · 1 day

You need to explain the cons of a team of mostly carries rather than telling them to just Grow Up outright. Beginners don't know so it doesn't achieve anything.

Kreider20 · 1 day

I had fun playing my first dota/hon games against humans, its stupid advice. Playing against bots is ridiculous

QuickLouis · 1 day

This infographic really helps the "elitist" title that Dota 2 gets...

ZGiSH · 1 day

If you don't say "fuck why did I do that" at least once a game, you probably aren't getting better.

echothreealpha · 1 day

So if you want to have fun, play with bots?

You should just stop playing the game when you're not having fun.

skymallow · 1 day

Lich is a bad pick in that situation. Your team has zero cc and 4 melee carries. You want someone like ES, CM, Jakiro, Rhasta, any other support with good team fight control. Picking Lich will probably help you win the lane, but there's still the issue of 2 lanes that will get stomped, plus the fact that your team will get kited to death in a team fight.

seanzy61 · 1 day

So if you want to have fun you have to play against bots? Fuck that.

Veradux21 · 1 day

This is so great, as a player who has never been able to transition from beginner to being an average player I really appreciate it... much better than the assholes who simply yell "NOOB, WHY YOU NO GANK?"

NDN_Shadow · 1 day

Good infograph, but one thing that is kind of a pet peeve of mine is that you can't just say something is cheap to a beginner who doens't know how to last hit.

When I first started playing, TP scrolls and Magic Wands were useless because last hitting was hard and money was tight. A year later, last hitting is still hard and money is still tight, but I'm playing support 90% of my games anyway, so it's cool.

Zargin · 1 day

Beginner questions? I play in the high skill bracket and some of these apply to the poeple I play with as well, especially the diving and communication ones. Dunno about wards and courier really, since I buy them most of the time.

ZShock · 1 day

This could well apply to non-beginner players too.

Kronosynth · 1 day

I really love Question 3.

"Do you really want to play a carry? Or are you just trying to be the hero?"

That's a fascinating insight that I've been trying to put into words myself for a long time now. I think I'll be quoting it to players who only play carries from here on out. Thanks!

fireflash38 · 1 day

As for number 8: I'm good about checking the minimap, and been getting better and better at getting 100% last hits if left alone while still monitoring minimap, but when should you go from farming to team fighting? I understand as someone like Tide, you should be ready to go post-6 to TP in and ult, but what about mid-late game carries? When do you go help out in a 3v4 or 4v5 team fight, and when do you push and try to take a side tower?

Toup · 1 day

If anything this is what those egocentric "experienced" players shouldn't do.

theleonlegend · 1 day

The funny one: "are you carrying a tp scroll?" "No you're not". One of the aspects that new players tend to overlook a lot. Help towers, help allies and save your life after a nice juke. All for simply 135 gold.

Thrawn183 · 1 day

Well, I can't figure out how to make a self-post, because I suck at reddit, but this seems like the ideal thread to post in, so here goes:

Let me preface this: I played a fair amount of Dota with my friends.
I've watched Dota 2 tournament games, I've watched introductory videos, I'm seriously trying to learn the game, and yet I can't even buy rudimentary items. How am I supposed to learn to play this game, when nothing makes any sense?

How do you use your stash? I've been in the situation of trying to buy items only to find that I have items in my inventory and a recipe in my stash. Does anything in my stash automatically get used when buying an item? Is double clicking on an item different than right clicking on it? When looking at building an item, is a recipe essentially the cost of combining the parts? I've had cases where I was trying to build an Assault Curiass and I had all the pieces (including the recipe), but was told I didn't have enough gold to complete the item.

How do I use couriers? Actually, I guess this also includes buying couriers.

I get most of the gameplay differences between LoL and Dota 2. All I want to do is learn how to actually buy shit and get it onto my hero. Please help me out here.

raptroszx · 1 day

Number fucking five...

TheAntZ · 1 day

I know this is supposed to be funny (and it kinda is :P ) but I'll try to make a more useful list, without the image though and only top 3.

Please let me know if anything is incorrect or if you want to suggest edits.

How do I start learning dota 2?

First of all, taking a look at these links and guides will help you immensely with the basics

Compiled guide to dota for new players

A somewhat harsh but very accurate introduction and welcome to the world of dota 2 online

Transitional guide for LoL -> dota players

How do I start playing dota 2 online?

While new account MMRs are generally very low and you will be facing other beginners most of the time, it is widely suggested to start practicing against bots, starting off in lobby alone against bots at increasing difficulty is the best idea, followed by co-op vs bots where you and 4 other players will be fighting bots of whatever difficulty level you chose.

Keep in mind, passive bots will barely do anything.

Easy bots will not be aggressive often, will not last hit well, and wont even try denying.

Medium bots will last hit relatively well and do chain stuns/slows when your health goes a bit low.

Hard bots last hit and deny better than most pub players. very good laning practice as they are good stunners and last hitters, but not great for strategic practice because they act predictably most of the time.

Insane bots will get more exp, act smarter, use their abilities flawlessly, and last hit and deny at a high level. Most normal MMR players struggle against these in the early game, very good practice.

After you're comfortable playing your selected heroes (I recommend picking one of each role) in lobby and then co-operative mode, jump into the matchmaking, and you'll find yourself doing better than your teammates most of the time!

What are roles? Which role should I start with?

There are many roles, a hero is rarely ever limited to only one. There are two popular systems by which roles are defined. The 'Traditional' system and the 'Chinese number' system. In the traditional system, heroes are attributed roles that describe their general playstyle. These roles are called - Initiator Ganker Pusher support
semi-carry hard carry Disabler Jungler

(tell me if I missed any)

You can check out the functions and playstyles of these roles here :

http://www.dota2wiki.com/wiki/Role

In the Chinese number system, heroes are numbered 1 through 5 based on which hero gets the most farm, 1 getting the most and 5 getting almost no creeps at all. The different numbers have different general tasks to accomplish: For the 1 role it is to get a ton of last hits and get items online to carry later in the game. For the 2 and 3 role, it is normally to gank during the midgame to establish a safer farming environment for the 1 role player and to rice in. They need only 1 or 2 'core' items before they can start ganking other lanes to help them out. the 3 role will normally get at least one item to help the team out, an aura item or something like pipe of insight. The 4 role focuses almost exclusively on getting up teamfight items, usually an initiator like tide or earthshaker. 4 role can sometimes roam to gank and help others win their lanes. 5 role is the hard support, focusing on getting courier, upgrading it, getting observer and sentry wards, dust, and occasionally mekansm

As to what you should pick, many people suggest starting off with supports because they don't need items. I disagree however, and recommend beefy hard-to-kill heroes for beginners such as Tidehunter or Skeleton King. Randoming for a while could help you learn the game better. Ultimately it depends on whats fun for you.

acct_oct7 · 1 day

This is just some guy raging at "bad teammates". Most of these have nothing to do with being a beginner. Get over yourself, it's a game.

Sergeoff · 2012-10-23T08:19:38+00:00

I hope I'm using the right thread to post that kind of question. If I'm not, please be so kind to redirect me.

First of all, I'm an avid LoL player. I play it a ton. Couple of days ago I recieved an invite from one of my friends and decided to try out Dota2 as well.

I went to an Easy Bot Game, randomed Luna, and won the game while buying random AD items (one of them was 3900). I noticed that Luna is pretty similar in her W mechanics to Sivir, which is one of my favourite champs in LoL. Now here's the question: what exactly should I build on Luna in order to be effective? Could anyone who's familliar with LoL tell me the build order (akin to Boots+3 pots->double Dorans->IE->PD->LW->GA->BT of Sivir)? I would really appreciate it if you would also explain what are LoL counterparts of items I must build on Luna. And which consumable items should I buy throughout the game?

Thanks in advance.

moonblade89 · 2012-10-23T13:45:29+00:00

"Being a non-support doesn't mean you shouldn't buy one"

I cannot express this enough. If the support cannot afford wards, don't shit all over them until they do. Cover for them, its a team effort. If somebody cannot pull their weight, then you are gonna need to cover for them.

DaymanMaster0fKarate · 2012-10-23T21:32:14+00:00

The whole "playing against bots" thing is bullshit

Cunter_X_Cunter · 1 day

Very well done, and put together. I'd change the wording on carries though, and instead place an emphasis on the importance of other roles (hint: more than supports/carries exist) to help people see the fun in them too.

Still, good graphic !

-DimensiO- · 1 day

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments thus far. These are things I see a lot of people still having trouble with, even myself.

I hope you use it while playing: print it out, alt-tab, second screen etc. I believe if you use it for 5-10 matches you will see some results. It's just a matter of repetition.

Still the hardest part of all is our ego, but with a goal in mind I think we can overcome it so we can learn and still have a great time playing the game.

EmirSc · 1 day

i know i suck at last hiting/farming what can i do? i always say to myself ok lets do it nicely and 5 min. latter back to the bad habits....

OckESC2 · 1 day

Great tips, I know I still have problems remembering TP scrolls =/

But I guess I could start doing like some other people here, namely buying 2 of them instead, it may help me remember to always carry one.

EDIT: And about the carries: I almost always wait until my team has picked. If we lack a support, I go one which fits my playstyle (usually leshrac) instead of playing a carry. Killing is fun, but helping your team out can be equally as rewarding!

najner · 1 day

I don't understand why would you tell people to grow just because he has to support his 4 carry team setup? People play what they want and how they want, as shocking as it might be to you.

I do get your point though. It's better if you change the tip or wording to actually pick a hero to fit your team composition instead of telling them to "grow up" in a computer game instead of telling them to grow up because they picked wrong pixels in a computer game.

Otherwise, really good tips. Props to you!

Purplegoatman · 2012-10-23T07:58:27+00:00

Way to make our community look good, mate. Another point for League T.T

Calasmere · 2012-10-23T09:20:33+00:00

Playing with bots is an awful idea. There's absolutely no reason to play with bots over people, bar people flaming. However, if you're new, matchmaking MMR will be in the trench, so people will be awful either way. It's not like winning or losing matters very much at all.

Telling people to grow up for wanting to play a carry is stupid too, although new players shouldn't be playing a carry because you can't last hit well enough.

Point nine is kind of stupid too, because you can quite easily rice an entire game without helping a team with a lot of different heroes, then go and destroy the enemy team once you have farm.

-DimensiO- · 2012-10-23T12:03:34+00:00

http://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/11xx1n/10_pro_questions_for_dota_2/

Fixed version, sorry for all the bad feelings some of you had during this thread.

biggy_Style · 1 day

Upvoted for a good job done there!

-DimensiO- · 2012-10-23T10:16:03+00:00

I see there are a lot of "I have time to write my opinion, but not the time to write my arugements" replies. Sadly that helps nobody.

The thing that sticks out most to me is people having trouble with placing the "fun" in the right context.

My point of view comes from the part of learning dota. And everyone is learning it all the time. Still the basics are never applied because most beginners enter the game to have fun and don't realise that they are entering a team game. People get angry and react with selfishness by not doing the basics that makes this a team game.

-They don't buy x cuz fuck the team they suck im not wasting money on them. I want my rapier to kill and have fun. -Fuck it I'll play carry cuz everyone picked carry I wanna have fun. -Ugh ill just mute everyone, I don't want to type everything, I just want to have fun.

This could be applied to all the 10 questions simply by wanting to have fun. Thats fine, but you're playing alone and not with the other 4 players. This way you're not playing dota you're playing farmville or diablo.

So again, ego is the problem and you can discuss all you want, but the fact remains that it you who has to change. (Me too for you clever girls out there)

"If You Wanna Make Dota 2 A Better Place Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change."

-MICHAEL JACKSON

bythewaves · 1 day

3 is e btw, in case anyone is wondering. You need a reliable stun and tankyness since lack of stuns means the opponents can just run at your puny lich ass and kill it in 2 hits. And it's not like lich can rescue how bad your lanes are going to be anyways, might as well go ck for aggression.

toggafreggin · 1 day

I don't know any of the terms in this guide, but I find that two of those points were badly or confusingly phrased. >ask yourself 5 why follow up questions what is this even supposed to mean?

TheRPGAddict · 2012-10-23T11:52:16+00:00

How about this guide. If you want to play DOTA 2, play DOTA 2. No need to be an asshole about it. It is a fuckin game. Play the game and be open minded so you can learn in the process.

Timpeluringen · 1 day

If you're a beginner, and want to get better, playing other DotA 2 players is probably the dumbest motherf*cking idea you can ever have. When you win against the hardest bots, THEN it's time.

TomHicks · 2012-10-23T09:09:15+00:00

Q3. Sure, I'll take A. Or C. Or E.

Are you new to dota yourself? Morph is as hard if not a harder carry than antimage. You don't get to tell a person who waits for everyone else to pick, to grow up when everyone else instapicked carries themselves.

DotA2

MODERATORS

you'll need to login or register to do that

create a new account

login