i no longer play Em games and i realized how much more fun it is with normal mode
im getting better and better, but my laning early in the game sucks. if i lane against a ranged hero , i have a problem to last hit and get money because he just keeps hitting me from a safe distance and i can't do anything about it. i usually buy 1, 2 or 3 runes in the beginning depending on hero but sometimes i just get owned in the lane and get no last hits due to offensive heroes against me. it bugs me that i can't counter it! is more regen the answer? since i am an old bw player, my mouse cliks, reaction time and unit control is pretty good so it's not that im slow or anything it just sometimes feels like it's really hard to NOT take alot of damage over time in your lane to get last hits
Laning with melee against ranged heroes is usually going to be hard if they're any good (unless you're Bloodhunter). Your best bet is to play it safe, not-dying but staying on the lane is much better even if you don't get many creepkills than risking your life/trip to the fountain for a couple creeps. Usually you should be laned with some partner and depending on your role you would be either farming or babysitting (not both), ideally partnering with someone ranged. Not very doable in pubs though, unless you're with friend or you're very lucky and you're laning with a guy who actually knows what to do. So many times I have been outfarmed -> rendered useless as a melee hero because Nymphora or other hero who's supposed to babysit me is getting all the kills.
Basic guideline: - If you're ranged and have a melee partner, be aggressive, take pot-shots at enemy heroes, deny and try to give as much farm to your mate (unless you're the carry, not him, then feel free to grab all the kills you can) - If you're support melee laning with carry melee try to draw enemy attention to yourself and leave farming to your mate - If you're melee with non-carry ranged hero advise him to be aggressive and focus on your farming - If you're ranged 1v2 play it safe, stay back, pull, whatever. Try not to push your lane too much and just steadily grab all the kills you can - If you're melee 1v2 you're screwed in 90% cases
As you can see, early game with melee heroes is defensive play (with exception of BH). Grab items and play accordingly.
I just wanted to throw something out there that I've found out relating to Charlie's post of shopping while you walk back to base. If you hold down the C key to center on your hero then hit b to bring up your shop menu(while still holding C) you can let go of c and it will continue to follow your character that way you don't have to stare at the minimap if you're afraid of a gank. To cancel this simply close the Buy menu then tap C once more.
just to add a couple tips to tadzio's ward guide for slightly higher skill games:
1) he said he was split on where to put the second ward from his first set. in higher skill games you will almost always want to use that ward to stop the enemy's creep pull. in lower skill games just reward the rune. for my 2nd set of wards (always make sure to buy it before the 6min mark!) i will usually place one on the opposing side of trees in my lane to watch for ganks under one of these three conditions: there is an enemy jungler, solo mid is a ganker (they almost always take this route), or i'm against an aggressive dual stun/slow lane.
2) if your carry is a reliable player, look at where he is farming/going to farm next. determine from which direction enemies could most likely come and ward that path. mid game you will want wards right up next to towers (but just out of range ofc) so your carry can see tp ganks before they come within stun range.
3) in hon you can place a ward right inside kongor's lair. make sure you do this late game as soon as you're on the defensive and it becomes possible for the enemy to take him out.
4) unless you're 0-5 or something, you will want to have the ward shop bought out at all times past the 6 minute mark. make purchasing wards and upgrading your team's courier the highest priority. you can delay boots and +stats items if your lane and mid lane are both doing well. if your hero is a bottle user you can delay the bottle for clarities and tangos until you are comfortable dishing out the $600. if there is an invis dude soloing mid (eg. madman/scout/night hound) add buying your team just one set of sentry wards asap to the top of your priorities. having your solo mid free farming for a little while is the easiest way to set your team ahead early on.
5) never say the phrase "wards on chick". fucking place that shit you lazy mofo.
On December 12 2009 04:43 Manit0u wrote: Laning with melee against ranged heroes is usually going to be hard if they're any good (unless you're Bloodhunter). Your best bet is to play it safe, not-dying but staying on the lane is much better even if you don't get many creepkills than risking your life/trip to the fountain for a couple creeps. Usually you should be laned with some partner and depending on your role you would be either farming or babysitting (not both), ideally partnering with someone ranged. Not very doable in pubs though, unless you're with friend or you're very lucky and you're laning with a guy who actually knows what to do. So many times I have been outfarmed -> rendered useless as a melee hero because Nymphora or other hero who's supposed to babysit me is getting all the kills.
Basic guideline: - If you're ranged and have a melee partner, be aggressive, take pot-shots at enemy heroes, deny and try to give as much farm to your mate (unless you're the carry, not him, then feel free to grab all the kills you can) - If you're support melee laning with carry melee try to draw enemy attention to yourself and leave farming to your mate - If you're melee with non-carry ranged hero advise him to be aggressive and focus on your farming - If you're ranged 1v2 play it safe, stay back, pull, whatever. Try not to push your lane too much and just steadily grab all the kills you can - If you're melee 1v2 you're screwed in 90% cases
As you can see, early game with melee heroes is defensive play (with exception of BH). Grab items and play accordingly.
ty
one thing that i havent thought about much is to let my partner have creep kills. I only play pub games so I don't usually trust my allies and it end up in a battle for creep kills. I'll try to communicate better with my partner and have a bit more team play in the laning phase, depending on role/hero letting one of us get more kills.
One more question.. How do you take a screenshot while in game without having to tab out and paste it etc..I've googled it without success
Sorry, can't help you on this one. I'm on linux so for me it's alt+tab (my terminal window moves on top of HoN this way, without HoN minimizing) and either 'import -w root ss.jpg' (if I want the shot of entire screen) or 'import -frame ss.jpg' (if I want to drag-select part of the screen).
i have both wc3 and hon, and to be honest i'm not liking hon. the gameplay is a lot faster (so ganking is ridiculously overpowered) and the graphics make all the heroes look to similar. i suppose its a matter of getting used to, but i'll stick with dota for now.
On December 16 2009 08:20 Elwinros wrote: Why is this game so item driven? It's like no skill is required.
How can you tell if you haven't seen it?
It's a team game first and foremost and as such requires this skills: - cooperation - timing - extensive knowledge about heroes, items, map and game mechanics
It's also a fast paced action game that requires some more skills: - speed - precision - game sense (or just a shitton of experience if you prefer it that way)
Items are important part of the game but they're just an add-on or the indicator of how good you are. Getting right items at the right moment is crucial for some heroes (not for the item independent ones obviously) and if you can get them or not is based solely on your skill. There's economy in this game (kill = income, die = lose currency) which has to be taken into account (good balance of farming and ganking).
But instead of telling you all this I think I should just show you some vods from the tournaments with commentary so you can see for yourself.
EPT
