Good guide tree.hugger, i think this one will be very useful to the new people jumping on the DotA genre. Pretty much all you said is very true, but i disagree with you in disabling autoattack to last hit better. I think the better way to do it is just spam move comands (click around) so you dont attack, or spamming the hold positions/stop/whatever command, that cancels your attack, because you may need to autoattack later on to push or something and it could be annoying for newer players to be clicking everytime to attack fast (not taking animation cancels in here).

I would also love that key, i have like 30-40 dota games played, but i guess my experience in HoN and LoL pretty much get me out of chances right?

dtz

5834 Posts

November 06 2011 18:02 GMT

#62

Really nice blog. Feels really heartwarming and nostalgic to read this as I am remembering how i tried to learn Dota in the first place. Years later and I still have much more to learn and so do you and everyone else. Also, I can definitely relate to this as I am sharing my account with my friends who is basically new to the game. Seeing them progress makes me ( and them) feels happy and accomplished. It's fun to see a lot of people basically starting from scratch together.

Good luck on your progress and hope you are having fun!

Gnight

77 Posts

November 06 2011 18:05 GMT

#63

Got to agree with your first statement there, haven't played Dota nor any of it's genre ever before and it can be really overwhelming to read certain guides. >.<
I actually got into contact with Dota 2 through these forums. So I hope to get a key from this. ^ ^

But even without getting one, checking out this guide has been anything but a waste for me, so I can't complain either way.

Also, I can advice people who are completely new to the game to watch a Dota 2 stream here and there.
Even without any commentary of the streamer and his/her skill being way above what yours will be when you start playing, you will get a good feel of how a game flows and goes. You will probably pick up a few things here and there as well and, believe it or not, the Dota 2 stream chats are often enough filled with a decent amount of pretty good people who don't mind answering a question or two instead of flaming your ass for asking them.

At least, that works for me, everytime I watch a Dota 2 stream I happen to learn a few things from which at least 1-2 stick with me. Downside is that you are watching a game you... want to play, but can't. >.<

Anyways, guides like these will certainly help me get more easily into the game when I finally have a Beta Key or (more likely), when the game is free to play for the public. So, big thanks for the guide Tree and don't give up on Prophet. ^ ^

Also good luck to everyone else who's hoping for a Beta Key.

butch

Belgium684 Posts

November 06 2011 18:12 GMT

#64

I'm new to Dota, but I've watched The International with great interest. I've always been a CS player and teamgames appeal to me more than soloplay (though I love to watch SC2, just don't like to play it). Having a new view on the game, you give very insightful comments which can come in handy if I ever get my hands on a key (or until release :p). This combined with Bumblebee's blog will surely help me a bit, so thanks for the effort.

youngminii

Australia7514 Posts

November 06 2011 18:27 GMT

#65

Cool. I'm not new to the game but I support these dota blogs that you guys are doing.

In a sense, the first four tips are there to make number five a reality. You don't want your creeps to be 'winning', you want them to be closer to your tower so that you have an escape route + no space for an enemy gank. You spend money so that your hero keeps up with everyone else, survival items are almost always the first few items to get (if you're a noob, getting 2 bracers at the start with every hero is a sure way to reduce deaths). Minimap awareness keeps you mindful of ganks, especially in pubs where people 'forget' to warn. The chat should signal any possible ganks, both from the enemy and from your team.

tl;dr don't die

also, many years of pub dota has taught me that you should never ever ever ever ever rely on your teammates, if you put yourself in a situation where you need a teammate to help you then you are doing it wrong (this does NOT apply if you have people you trust on your team)

another thing i learnt is that if you want to make some friends through dota, be a bitch and support them and/or save them all the time even if you think you can't. most people that play dota are faggots and bm the shit out of you once they realise you suck so get them to like you before you start feeding

benemann

Germany33 Posts

November 06 2011 19:13 GMT

#66

Great blog!

I guess i could be considered a noob when it comes to DotA, i played very few dota1 games and played some LoL and HoN casually for 1-2 months. But I've always been interested in the genre, and i think the release of DotA2 will be the time i really get into it. Having early beta access would be great to try it out and I'll try to not ruin any of your games.

Thanks a lot for the guide again, a lot of people need this kind of guide when it comes to DotA-style games.

Lipe El Gato

1 Post

November 06 2011 19:14 GMT

#67

Well, I'm not into DotA (yet), and I'm not into the genre either. Actually I am mostly a fighting game competitive player, never get to play DotA or any other of the kind. Just like you, I have a friend who plays it and we get to talk and watch about it some times. He knows that I'm really in the mood to start into DotA 2 and he gives me some advices on some of his knowledge from the first game pointing some things to me. And to be honest, the more I learn/theorize about that game THE MORE I want to play it! Thats it, hope I get some chance D:

Btw I'm new here, I've been participating on every single contest I know to get the chance to win a key... Hope I can make it some time down the road. Thanks for your time, chance and sharing, appreciated.

asasins_creed

Turkey2 Posts

November 06 2011 19:44 GMT

#68

Well, I'm not so new to dota but since i can only play hon and lol; a beta key would save my life! Please pick me and my prayers will be with you!

Iceman331

United States1306 Posts

November 06 2011 20:06 GMT

#69

Does ~10 games dota experience still count as new? If so, it would be nice to get a key

Nice guide btw.

Tercotta

Canada402 Posts

November 06 2011 20:13 GMT

#70

Here are my very limited (14 games) hon stats to prove my nubness. The account is a little old but the mac client didn't work well (thus the crash and my disconnect) and had no sound for a while so I had to wait till I got windows running on boot camp to try again. Thanks for the blog.

Nuttyguy

United Kingdom1526 Posts

November 06 2011 20:26 GMT

#71

im confused, why are you trying to give your key to someone new to DotA? they have a high chance of wasting the key. Im a long time player so i dont qualify.

Anyway it was a nice read on someone's perspective who's kind of new to the game.

One important thing I didn't realize for a long time was that it's never important for the minions ("creeps") in your part of the map ("lane") to win their little battle.

i lol'ed

Torte de Lini

Germany38463 Posts

November 06 2011 20:30 GMT

#72

Nice read :3 Should link to Heyoka's blog :3

Rynzser_r

275 Posts

November 06 2011 20:43 GMT

#73

i played just few dota games..but sure i`d like that key.

Phoenix696

Slovakia1 Post

November 06 2011 20:51 GMT

#74

I am a noob in dota. I played a couple of games, but can't get into it that much. I play a lot of LoL, though.
I really hope I can get a dota2 key.

Gwyndolium

Netherlands3 Posts

November 06 2011 21:22 GMT

#75

I understand where you come from. I'm checking up Dota 2 streams atm because I'm afraid I'll be flamed up too much if I would get a key and would go playing without any knowledge of the game. Even in the chat there I get random flames when I tell them I never played dota in my life. I did try HoN but was gone after 2 games because I was flamed on so much...

I got loads of experience with League of Legends but this is like a total new game. I would be really honored to be able to try this game out and see what it actually is. It looks like alot of fun in the streams and hell, I might even try to setup a stream might I win a key somewhere so people can see my mistakes and help me learn more about the game.

Good to know there are more people involved that aren't all PRO dota veterans.. I already kinda felt lost.

-Gwyndolium

Harkness

Denmark3 Posts

November 06 2011 21:40 GMT

#76

Im new to DoTA, i also immediatly took a liking to the Nature's Prophet watching the Invitational. i'd like a key :D

Durak

Canada3685 Posts

November 06 2011 21:56 GMT

#77

Awesome blog. Totally linking this to friends once DotA2 comes out/they get a beta key. I figured most of these were self-explanatory so I never thought of mentioning them. It's hard to remember your first few games in a genre.

I play HoN so I'm not new to DotA but it's nice of you to have the contest!

SpiritClown

Italy35 Posts

November 06 2011 22:19 GMT

#78

Well nice post. I played LoL for a bit so some things are not that new to me but it's nice to have a quick reminder and some other explanations about the game (and your experience with learning Dota which is a thing i liked quite a bit). I'm new to Dota but, as i said, i have played a little bit of LoL (something around 500 games, not sure) so i dunno if i can qualify for the contest but if i am i would really like this beta key

And about the newbie thing learning i hope to play with plenty ppl from TL so they might be a little less unforgiving with me

But pls keep making this posts and telling us about your Dota Experience! Even if it's not top pro strats it's always nice to hear about ppl having fun XD

beef42

Denmark1037 Posts

November 06 2011 23:11 GMT

#79

I had a brief spat with Dota back in the "golden" days of Dota here in Denmark. There was a time it was played in every LAN center and known to all. Today, LoL and other games seems to have taken over the scene here, as well as myself.

I'm hoping Dota2 will be a great revival for the game. It has definately caught my attention, and I hope that many new players will be swept up by all this betakey hype. Just look at me, posting in all these threads and f5ing my gmail in my pursuit one of the coveted keys.

encg

United States41 Posts

November 07 2011 01:33 GMT

#80

Of the little I've seen, Dota 2 looks pretty promising. Good luck to all the other newbies out there!