DoTa for dummies
Before I get started, I really hope Crocop bitch slaps the crap out of Wanderlai Silva in the open weight GP semi finals tomorrow.
In my main blog, I’m going to talk about this popular custom game for Warcraft 3: The Fronze Throne. However, you’ll need to get a handle on the basic mechanics of the game so I present “Dota for dummies” by Tichondrius (which can be found on the DoTa forums)
/ Plagarism
What is DotA? [D1]
Defense of the Ancients, abbreviated to DotA, is a custom map for Warcraft 3 that has developed over time. The original concept was derived from an old custom map known as Aeon of Strife (AOS). Over time it has been developed and many variations have spawned from it. The most popular variation of DotA today is known as DotA Allstars.
The main objective of DotA Allstars is to destroy the enemy’s ancient. At the beginning of the game, the team you are on decides your allegiance, either the Sentinel (bottom left) or Scourge (top right). In DotA there are 3 lanes, in order to assist your plight in destroying the enemy ancient, there are creeps which spawn on a regular basis. The creeps consist of a small pack of treants (Sentinel) or ghouls (Scourge), and a necromancer (Scourge) or druid (Sentinel). On the defensive side there are also 3 lines of towers protecting the main base (shown by the Ancient Protector and Ziggurat icons) and two surrounding the Ancient.
At the beginning of the game you are given the opportunity to either choose a hero or have one selected for you. Your job is to use this hero to assist the creep that spawns, to penetrate the enemy defenses and destroy their ancient. Over time your hero will level up and gain abilities which you will use defensively, offensively or passively.
Basic Mechanics
Experience – During the game your heroes will gain experience by experiencing battle. By staying within the range of dying enemy units, your hero gains experience, one he has enough experience he will level up.
Levels – Levels are grades which your hero passes as he gains experience. Each level will give you bonuses to stats and the chance to choose an ability. The starting level is 1 and the maximum level is 25. It becomes tougher to gain experience as you level.
Stats – Every hero will start off with a certain stat value for their three attributes. The three stats are:
- Strength – Governs the gain of health points and health point regeneration
- Agility – Governs the increase of armor and attack speed
- Intelligence – Governs the gain of mana points and mana point regeneration
Every hero has a primary attribute, respective of their primary attribute they will be given extra damage points and other bonuses according the increase of it
Abilities – Every hero has their own set of four abilities. Three of these abilities are categorized as normal abilities. These normal abilities have 4 levels governing the damage or the extent to which its function is useful, these levels are accessible at levels 1,3,5 and 7, except for some exceptions (Nevermore the Shadow Fiend). Apart from normal abilities, heroes also have an Ultimate ability (commonly called ‘ulti’). Ultimate abilities usually provide that extra kick that a hero needs in order to kill other heroes. These Ultimate abilities are accessible at levels 6, 11 and 16. Heroes are also giving the chance to boost their attributes by investing their abilities in “attribute bonus”, which gives a +2 bonus to each stat.
Gold – Upon killing creeps or enemy heroes, your will be given gold. Heroes give a higher premium of gold but since they are controlled by human players and have abilities, they will be significantly harder to kill.
Advanced Mechanics
Hero Killing – In order to assist your assent to the enemy ancient, killing enemy heroes is advisable. However to do so, careful planning and making use of the current circumstance is required. Usually using a heroes abilities to your advantage will help in hero killing. Certain abilities have certain affects on the enemy as listed below.
Ability effects – Many abilities, both active and passive have added effects which can assist in both killing and harassing enemy heroes. The majority are listed below:
Stuns – Stuns are the ultimate form of disabling in DotA. A stunned player cannot cast spells or move, they are completely disabled.
Slows – A slowed player will have reduced effectiveness. This can be in terms of both attack speed and move speed
Maim – A maimed player will be much slower; this is signified by blood pouring out of them. The only maim present in DotA is attainable from the items ‘Sange‘ and ‘Sange and Yasha’
Freeze – Similar to stun only used by Rylai the Crystal Maiden. Frozen units cannot move or attack but can cast spells.
Cooldown – To prevent the spamming of one singular spell, the majority of spells are given a degree of cooldown time. Cooldown can only be eliminated by some abilities (Rearm, used by Boush the Goblin Tinker and also by the Recipe Item, Refresher Orb)
Farming – Farming is the act of killing creeps for extended amounts of time. Some heroes are more exceptional than others in terms of farming; some are barely capable of it. Farming is useful for gathering large amounts of gold to buy items in order to make the hero more potent and able to kill heroes easier. While killing creeps it’s recommended that you don’t place yourself in the spotlight. Taking damage directly often results in heroes targeting you in the early stages of the game. Try not to lose any hp unnecessarily.
Items and Recipes – There is a large selection of items in DotA Allstars, these are all available for viewing at www.dota-allstars.com. Items can do a variety of useful things. From consumables to power-ups to items that drop on death, items make the game of DotA just as interesting as they made Warcraft 3. In terms of power-ups, items can add damage, add movement and attack speed, add stats (which can add damage anyway), and even add active and passive spells. Recipe items are interesting triggered items in DotA, when a group of items is purchased; they will be merged in order to produce a more powerful and potent item, usually giving a more significant bonus than just the normal items by themselves. Recipe items are often the ones most sought after since by the end of the game most normal items will serve no purpose but to fill your inventory.
/ end plagiarism
posted by Edward @ 11:57 PM
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