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Just starting out HoN? No previous experience with DotA? Sucking a lot and trying to improve? This blog is for you!
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Hero picking
- Item builds
- Basic tactics
1. Introduction
If you haven't discovered it just yet, HoN is a team game where your goal is to destroy the opposing team's main building (or just owning them so hard that they give up earlier). In order to do so you must be quick, smart and what's most important - have good teamwork and understanding of the game. You play as a team, you win and lose as a team.
As a beginner, you want to play as many games as possible with as many heroes as possible. Knowing what certain heroes can or can't do is vital to your performance. Also, try to learn the intricacies of the map (Forests of Caldavar) as knowing the right routes, lines of sight at certain spots and stuff like that can save you on more than one occasion.
Advice: Never play EM games. You won't get any experience from them that will be worthy in standard games and you might catch a lot of bad habits.
2. Hero Picking
Picking a right hero is very important aspect of the game. That's why you must learn as much as you can about them all.
Basically, heroes fall into several categories:
- Carry - usually agi or str heroes who specialise in dealing damage (a lot of damage). They're usually being played by the best player on the team as come the lategame they're the ones to carry their entire team to victory (hence the name). You should avoid picking more than 1 carry hero for the team. They require a lot of farming as they're usually rather weak early on and are heavy item dependant to be successful, if you have more than 1 carry, they're gonna steal farm from each other and both end up underleveled/underfarmed which is bad. Also, since they're so weak early on, your team will be on the defensive right off the bat and make it a lot harder for everyone. (Sand Wraith, Moon Queen, Predator, Maliken)
- Support - this are usually int heroes. Their primary roles are warding (more on that later), babysitting (i. e. helping carry farm by harassing enemies on lane, healing etc.), disabling enemy heroes, providing buffs etc. they are the heart and soul of the team. They fall into several sub-categories:
- gankers: heroes who roam the map and ambush enemies (not neccessarily support, carry/initiator heroes make for great gankers too) (Andromeda, Thunderbringer, Puppet Master)
- pushers: usually healers/buffers and heroes who get some form of minions. They're used to push lanes (Demented Shaman, Ophelia, Defiler)
- disablers: heroes who disable enemies in various ways (Succubus, Witch Slayer)
- nukers: guys with big red button that says 'DAMAGE' (Plague Rider, Pyromancer)
- junglers: heroes who are capable of staying and farming in the woods since the beginning (Leggionaire, Ophelia, Tempest)
- tanks: guys geared towards surviving huge amounts of damage (Accursed, Armadon) - Initiator - this are specialized heroes used to initiate fights (hence the name). Some common examples include: Andromeda, Legionnaire, Tempest, Kraken, Magmus, Behemoth, Hellbringer
Ideally, a team should consist of:
1 Carry
1 Initiator
3 Support
Think before picking, and stick to your role. If you're a support hero don't steal creeps/kills from a carry, he needs them more than you do. Also, buying wards is a priority for support heroes, it helps the entire team more than you getting your gear.
Observe closely which heroes are being picked for the enemy team and your team. If you're playing with some retards (happens quite often in pubs) who already picked 2 carry heroes, you probably shouldn't pick another one.
Also, try to counter-pick enemy picks, if they're getting a lot of squishy heroes (agi/int) then picking someone with considerate AoE/nuke damage could be a good idea (likewise, it would be bad idea to pick a squishy hero if enemy team gets a lot of AoE/nukes). If you're unsure as to what hero you should pick, then getting some support disabler is your safest bet as disables are always a valuable asset on the team.
Example of good (Legion) and bad (Hellbourne) team picks.
![[image loading]](http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6172/ss2na.jpg)
3. Item Builds
Not exactly builds, but general guidelines on purchasing items for your hero. This are just to get you started, you'll have to figure out what's working for you best by yourself.
1. Early Game - for early game try to pick up some stats and cheap regen. Stats help you survive and lasthit while regen lets you stay on your lane longer (and thus farm more). Most common items for early game:
Mana Battery - gathers charges as enemy cast spells, can get up to 10 charges, on use heals 15 hp and mana for each charge. Can be later upgraded to Power Supply which gathers charges from wider range and can have up to 15 of them.
Great item for most heroes, I can't keep track of how many times it has saved my life or netted me a kill (short on mana? puff!).
Stat items - pretenders crown, crushing claws etc. to be later transformed into reinforced bracer and other stuff. Very good early game, try to grab a bracer or two on a squishy hero and your survivability instantly imporves.
Logger's Hatchet - the only downside of this item is that it can't be sold. Otherwise it's great for improving your damage versus creeps early on thus making your farming much easier. Staple for most melee heroes.
Shield - helps improve your survivability. Almost all melee agi heroes should aim for Iron Shield as soon as possible, you're going to get harassed heavily on your lane as agi melee and it helps you a lot against enemy pot-shots or random creep attacks.
Bottle - questionable item. I'm not a very big fan of it and I wouldn't advise you to get it as your first item. Sure you're gonna see it a lot but in my opinion it's better to get some stats and regen early on and bottle later. Apart from great heal/mana regen bottle doesn't offer any real help in survivability/lasthitting (2 most important things early on). Note: to use bottle heal you must be clear of danger as any dmg cancels its effect.
Cheap regen - runes of blight, mana potions, healing potions etc. Invaluable in the first couple of minutes.
2. Specialized items - this are the items that let you fulfill your role better and usually cost a hefty fee.
Against casters/nukers - if enemies have a lot of AoE/nukes, then someone on the team should consider getting Barrier Idol. It helps survive the entire team. If enemies have a lot of disables/nukes then getting Shrunken Head is a priority.
Against high physical damage - if enemies do a lot of physical damage, then getting Barbed Mail is a good idea. Not advised for squishy heroes though, you need hp to survive long enough for it to work. Otherwise getting +hp and +armour items is in order.
Support items - this are items carried by support heroes most of the time, they're further helping the team. Most common choices would be:
Astrolabe - AoE healing and +armour, very good all around.
Ring of Sorcery - AoE mana gain, helps sustain the casting.
Frostfield Plate - aura slow (enemies) and minor AoE nuke + further slow.
Totem of Kuldra - 3.5 second disable. Very useful in any situation.
Storm Spirit - another disable, lasts longer than totem but it's not as good as you can't hit the target while it lasts.
Nome's Wisdom - mana regen aura + minor heal on teammates while they cast spells. Nice and cheap little addition.
Tablet of Command - hero displacement + tree destruction. Use with caution.
Portal Key - single most important items for many heroes (Legionnaire, Tempest, Magmus) as it let's you get right onto enemy instantly. Required by most initiators.
3. Basic item building tips: you should start off with cheap items and proceed to buy more expensive ones as game progresses and your cash flows easier. Early to mid game try to build items that consist of cheaper parts (Astrolabe, Nome's Wisdom etc.) and get the high-end gear (like Totem of Kuldra) only for the later game struggle (this goes for most support heroes, with Legionnaire, Behemoth etc. you want to get your Portal Key as soon as possible, often even before you get any boots or other items).
4. Basic Tactics
Here are some basic things you should learn ASAP or great suckage is ensured.
1. Lasthitting:
You should always try to hit creeps ONLY if this hit is going to kill it, avoid autoattacking at all costs (unless you're pushing)
What's the purpose of this?
- it reduces the chance of enemy denying you the creep
- it doesn't push the lane further (you want to fight under your tower, not their) which in turn makes you less prone to ganking and other nasty stuff
2. Denying:
Always try to deny all creeps you can. It works just like lasthitting but on your own creeps.
What's the purpose of this?
- it denies enemy the money and experience (enemy gets half the exp and 0 gold)
3. Not spamming spells:
So, you got yourself some nice int hero with a lot of AoE spells? You're probably tempted to cast them as soon as cooldown is over and get yourself more creepkills? Well, don't!
Why is that?
- by not spamming your spells you preserve your mana so you have it when the real need arises (enemy gank for instance)
- you don't push the lane further too early
- spells should be used primarily on heroes, not the creeps
4. Controling runes:
There are 2 rune locations in the river. First rune is spawned randomly at one of them at the start of the game (when the countdown reaches 0) and then new runes spawn at every full 2 minutes (assuming someone has taken the previous rune, otherwise it just stays there). Having this in mind you should have someone controling the runes (usually the hero in mid) even if this hero doesn't have the bottle.
What do you mean by controling runes?
Getting them before enemy does, simple as that. You don't want the enemy to get them. Even if the enemy doesn't have the bottle, runes can be used in various ways:
Double damage - more damage is always nice, you can use it to gank someone or just for easier lasthitting/denying.
Illusion - use it either as damage increase (attacking the same target with yourself and clones), ganks, confusion/faking or scouting.
Regeneration - self explanatory.
Haste - great for ganking, gives you 522 (max) movement speed. Does not affect attack speed.
Long story short: Your team has to be a bitch about runes. Even if you're not gonna use it, you won't let others use it too.
5. Warding:
A very important part of the game. Instead of writing some bullshit I will just copy/paste Tadzio's article on this. It's a great read even for more experienced people.
+ Show Spoiler [Warding by Tadzio] +
The Noob's Guide to Support Warding
A Disclaimer: Amongst other [TLn] gamers, I am probably average to slightly below average in terms of HoN skill. That, I think, makes me a poor authority for a guide. Fortunately, warding takes essentially zero skill. Just discipline and knowledge. I sincerely hope the newer players among you use this so we can get out of the 1600s.
Intro:
A Disclaimer: Amongst other [TLn] gamers, I am probably average to slightly below average in terms of HoN skill. That, I think, makes me a poor authority for a guide. Fortunately, warding takes essentially zero skill. Just discipline and knowledge. I sincerely hope the newer players among you use this so we can get out of the 1600s.
Intro:
So, you want to be a support hero? Maybe your team needs a support hero and you're the last slot. Maybe you're tired of playing carries and wanna give support a try. Maybe you misclicked. Whatever the reasons, you're support and you need to know what's expected of your role. First, ask yourself two questions.
1) Are you okay with buying and placing wards all game long? If the answer is no, consider repicking into a tank or an initiator.
2) Are you willing to babysit your carry, giving him all the CK you can and trying not to last hit any heroes? If the answer is no, consider repicking into a carry or ganker.
If you can do both those things (warding/babysitting), you can handle playing a serviceable support hero. Congrats!
The rest of this guide will concentrate on covering how to ward at the pub level. You won't see any fancy advanced strategies here... just what you need to do your job.
First, which Heroes are Support?
Most heroes can serve as support, but these heroes excel in the role. Almost exclusively INT-based, they are item independent heroes and are usually nukers, healers or buffers. Weak as individuals, they make their team better than another carry would. Subroles in parenthesis.
Andromeda (ganker/initiator)
Blacksmith (ganker)
Nymphora (pusher)
Thunderbringer (ganker)
Pollywog Priest (pusher)
Ophelia (ganker/jungler)
Pyromancer (ganker)
Demented Shaman (pusher)
Voodoo Jester (ganker)
Hellbringer (initiator)
Plague Rider (ganker)
Accursed (tank)
If it's not obvious who should be warding in your game and you're one of these heroes, go ahead and buy some wards. Take some initiative.
Warding Basics:
Warding is by far the most important thing support heroes do. Legal maphack is a powerful thing, and if you take your role seriously you can give your team a great advantage simply by buying and placing wards. Warding does not require much skill, so even the noobiest players can be a valuable asset to their team if they ward.
In my games with [TLn], if I don't buy wards, I never see them. This must change if we ever wanna get outta the 1600s (and I certainly do). So let's go over the basics of warding.
Two wards cost 200g. You can buy them by pressing B R A. That's right, by simply typing "bra," you're rewarded with maphack. It's a sexy thing. I like to think that I'm taking off my opponent's bra when I do it, but you may find other motivations for purchasing them more often. Anyway, wards are invisible, last 6 minutes from the time you place them, you can buy up to 4 wards every 6 minutes, and they reveal the same portion of the map whether it is night or day.
Starting off:
When I play support heroes in a standard pub, I like to start off with 1x Runes of the Blight, 1x Ward of Sight, 1x Pretender's Crown, and 2x Minor Totem. If my hero needs mana early, I'll trade in the Pretender's Crown for 3x Mana Potion. In a game where I know the people I'm playing with I often start with 1x Runes of the Blight, 1x Ward of Sight, 1x Monkey Courier, and 2x Minor Totems.
Notice that the unwavering feature of these starting item builds is the Ward of Sight.
The first thing to do once you buy your items is head for the river runespawn, either top or bottom. If someone's come with you, use the time searching for a firstblood opportunity. If you're alone, sit on highground and wait for the -10s mark (ten seconds before the beginning of the match), at that moment, place your ward and position yourself to grab the rune.
If a rune is there, don't grab it right away unless you have to. If it's a regen rune, you may want to leave it there for your solo, ask them. If it's an invis, an illusion, or a double damage rune, wait until the 10s mark to grab it, then head to your lane and attempt a firstblood. If it's a haste rune, wait until the 15s mark to grab it, then head to mid or your lane and attempt a firstblood.
But what to do with your extra Ward? I'm split on this. Some games I save it 'til the 6 minute mark, then replace the first ward and use the other wards I've bought to get massive vision over the map. In other games, I'll drop the extra ward in the middle lane and let the solo place it at his leisure.
Primary Ward Locations:
Getting vision of the river is your primary concern. At your most minimal and lazy, you should have wards looking over the runespawns at all times. Here are some examples:
Q: Kk... Where do I place these glorious wards?
A: At your laziest, you should always cover runespawns. Like so:
![[image loading]](http://i50.tinypic.com/zjf0on.jpg)
(vision of: rune, kongor area, highground on legion side of river)
![[image loading]](http://i49.tinypic.com/fp4knr.jpg)
(vision of: rune, sliver of highground on legionside, fog-juke spot on hellborne side)
Q: Well, that's boring. What if I'm not being lazy?
A: No one said placing wards was exciting, hehe! If you're not being lazy, you can get aggressive with your wards, like so (note, Aggressive wards become defensive if you place them on "your" side of the river)--
Secondary Ward Locations:
Later in the game, you'll find it useful to place wards in offensive or defensive locations. These are the locations you should place them for maximum vision:
Spotting up ramps:
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/2117x9f.jpg)
(vision of: entire area above ramp, middle river)
Scouting Jungles/forward positions:
![[image loading]](http://i49.tinypic.com/13yhyfn.jpg)
(vision of: northeast corner of hellborne jungle, behind hellborne's second top tower)
![[image loading]](http://i47.tinypic.com/25g6xk4.jpg)
(vision of: behind legion's second top tower, shortcut south of ward that allows easy travel from middle to top and vice versa)
![[image loading]](http://i49.tinypic.com/2qsxa8x.jpg)
(vision of: common staging area for ganks/teamfights on hellborne side, sliver of river)
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/nzf7dd.jpg)
(vision of: rune, southwest portion of hellborne jungle, common fog/gank area)
![[image loading]](http://i47.tinypic.com/qz0ug8.jpg)
(vision of: southwest portion of legion jungle, behind legion's second bottom tower, common staging area for teamfights on legion side)
![[image loading]](http://i50.tinypic.com/24cfcix.jpg)
(vision of: behind hellborne's second bottom tower, parts of the area around hellborne's secret shop, part of shortcut from mid to bottom)
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/33kx729.jpg)
(vision of: center of legion jungle, major staging point for ganks/teamfights)
![[image loading]](http://i45.tinypic.com/r1a5o8.jpg)
(vision of: northeast area of legion's jungle, major staging point for early/mid game ganks)
Q: You mentioned that wards can tell you "how many people are defending a tower." How?
A: Simply place a ward behind the offending tower. Like so:
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/14udpwp.jpg)
(vision of: whoever is behind the tower, teleports, etc.)
Q: I'm having trouble breaking into my opponent's base. Can wards help?
A: Yes! WARDS ARE THE BEST! Viola:
Hellborne:
![[image loading]](http://i50.tinypic.com/308bnts.jpg)
(vision of: Hellborne inbase highground)
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/3449wxx.jpg)
(vision of: Hellborne inbase highground)
Legion:
![[image loading]](http://i49.tinypic.com/21cbdae.jpg)
(vision of: Legion inbase highground)
![[image loading]](http://i45.tinypic.com/2cy5mop.jpg)
(vision of: Legion inbase highground)
Preventing Neutral Pulls:
Neutral Pulls can give a significant level advantage to the players doing it. If your opponent is doing it, or you think they might, you can prevent neutrals from spawning by placing wards, like so:
![[image loading]](http://i49.tinypic.com/idyc1c.jpg)
(vision of: neutral camp, sliver of area behind hellborne's top tower)
![[image loading]](http://i47.tinypic.com/2a91bmr.jpg)
(vision of: neutral camp, sliver of legion jungle)
Counter Warding:
If your ganks are all failing, chances are high that your opponents have wards up, and you should take it upon yourself to counterward (assuming that you're ranged). Blinding your opponent is just as powerful as revealing him, so make use of this when necessary. Simply buy a Ward of Revelation and place it at the common locations for wards, then destroy the offending ward. Like warding, counterwarding requires little skill, just the discipline to do it.
Q: Uh oh, the other team read this FAQ and has wards. What should I do?
A: Counterward if it's really disrupting your team. Get a ranged hero to buy a Ward of Revelation and plant them at common ward locations, then destroy the offending ward of sight. Scout's Electric Eyes may also be used for this purpose.
Avoiding Counter Warding:
Pubs don't typically counterward, but I have had it happen to me. Here are some less common locations to place wards that'll give you just about as much information as the standard ward locations, but won't be as easy for them to find.
Q: Uh oh, the other team read this FAQ and is counterwarding. What should I do?
A: Use alternative ward spots. Your warding shall not be hindered! Here are a few that will spot runes while remaining expensive to find. Many of the alternative ward spots can be used as psuedo aggressive wards.
For Bot:
![[image loading]](http://i45.tinypic.com/27ys7it.jpg)
(vision of: rune, north side of legion jungle, some river)
![[image loading]](http://i48.tinypic.com/295tgm8.jpg)
(vision of: rune, river, sliver of northeast corner of legion jungle)
![[image loading]](http://i45.tinypic.com/15ybtkz.jpg)
(vision of: rune, kongor area, river)
![[image loading]](http://i45.tinypic.com/ff95s4.jpg)
(vision of: rune, kongor area, river, hellborne highground)
For Top:
![[image loading]](http://i50.tinypic.com/a37v5.jpg)
(vision of: rune, river, sliver of hellborne highground, legion's ancient stack area)
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/2j19992.jpg)
(vision of: rune, river, hellborne highground, sliver of legion highground)
![[image loading]](http://i45.tinypic.com/wa1sut.jpg)
(vision of: rune, river, sliver of legion highground)
![[image loading]](http://i46.tinypic.com/2l91t0i.jpg)
(vision of: rune, south side of hellborne jungle)
FAQ:
Q: But I'm broke!
A: Np. Just don't die for a couple minutes and you'll have enough to buy wards.
Q: But if I don't buy wards, I can carry with XHero!
A: Stfu and buy wards, you donkey.
Q: I'm Voodoo Jester, Pollywog, Blacksmith, Thunderbringer, Pyromancer! Do I really have to buy wards?
A: If no one else is, yes. Shroud/Staff of the Master/whatever-the-hell-you're-saving-up-for isn't as important as wards.
Q: I'm Accursed. Do I really have to buy wards?
A: People very rarely expect Accursed to buy wards. But if you're building him with an Astroblade (mekansm) and no one else is getting wards, I'd say yes.
Q: Can I place wards in other spots?
A: Of Course! But be careful. Trees and other obsticles can block a ward's vision. The locations I screenshoted are ideal for most situations.
6. Sticking together:
Remember, you are a part of the team, act like it's true. Try to help out your mates if they're in trouble (yeah, I want you to buy this homing stone and teleport to another lane instead of saving up for whatever item you're just building) and at certain point of the game, it's all about teamfights so pushing a lane singlehandedly is usually a bad idea because either you'll get ganked by 5 people or your mates are going to lose a tower because they won't be able to defend it 4v5.
7. Slot for homing stone:
You should always have one.
8. Greed:
Greed is bad for you and your team. If you're chasing some hero and this chase is starting to take long (you chased him the entire woods for example) just break off and leave him be. There's a big chance his mates are already waiting for you in the spot he's going to.
Also, don't rush 1v5 just because you can kill one of them that is low. Kill for kill isn't that good of a business (in most cases). Also, be mindful of overpushing, if your mates are calling misses, you should immediately take precautions (fall back) and not sit there 'because you can finish this wave of creeps in 3 hits'.
9. Staying alive:
Focus on that first. If you're low, go heal, don't stand there and try to kill this 1 more creep. You stay alive = you don't feed.
10. Be mindful of the minimap:
It's an invaluable tool. Even if your mates don't call misses (because they're pricks) you should still glance at the minimap often and if you see something wrong there (just 1 or no enemy heroes) you should assume you're being ganked and act accordingly (back off to nearest tower, tp home or something like that).
11. Some thoughts on regen:
What I see a lot is many people overrating regen too much. Disclaimer: Regen is good, I'm not saying no. It's always nice to have some hp/mana regen.
The problem is however, that regen is secondary to increasing hp/mana. Regen helps you stay at lanes or prevents the need to go back and heal but on the other hand, it DOES NOT increase your survivability in fights as much as plain boost in hp. Try to keep this in mind at all times. More hp > regen. Stat-gained hp (through strength) > generic hp boost (beastheart etc.).
Summary:
- you want to increase your hp/mana as a priority, not the regen rate
- you want to increase it through stats (stats give you so much more, str gives you hp/hp regen rate and sometimes dmg, agi gives you more armour/ias and dmg, int gives you mana/mana regen rate and dmg)
Example: As an int hero, you want to increase your mana pool (preferably through int gain, I can't stress this out enough) instead of buying manatubes and shit like that. Being able to cast more spells with your pool is a lot better than casting some, waiting for regen, casting some more.
12: Rearranging:
If you've chosen wrong lanes (one lane getting raped badly) do not hesitate to rearrange your team position. Giving enemy such advantage will just make your entire team keep falling behind.
Example: Enemy Bloodhunter soloing mid - you need to put one additional hero in mid lane or you will get screwed. Yesterday I was solo BH in mid vs Arachna and I outfarmed her so bad it wasn't even funny. All items I needed for start: Logger's Hatchet, Shield, 1 health potion. She couldn't touch me and after the first wave of creeps I had 4/4 ck/cd stats. Then I was 1 level ahead, then 2 and just kept increasing the gap. Got my ult, ganked etc.
Bloodhunter is too strong to let him vs 1 hero. His healing-through-kills is ridiculously strong and if facing some int hero he'll just perma-silence and own.
I'm too tired to write anything more today. If you have any editing suggestions or questions then just fire away and I'll update this guide later accordingly.
Hope it helped someone at least a bit.
im a victim of falling into some bad habits by only playing em.. fuuckk
They have a very long cooldown in the beginning which makes them even less reliable.
