DotA 2: 6.83 patch, The International 5 on the way!

[Miharu]

god, i cant wait for ranked matchmaking. ive bought courier every game and ive yet to see anyone actually use it

It's ranked, but the current influx of players ****ed that up pretty badly.

I miss the earlier days of beta where it took longer to find games, but the majority of the games I played were quality, and were with players better than I. The only reliable way to get decent games now is to play scrims afaik.

Now it's just buy chicken go mid and carry newbs in my backpack.

 

[PantyRaider08]

If any of you ever play Dota on WC pm me. I still don't have the key.

 

[Rikana]

Anyone have a spare invite? I've been itching to play for a while. I never got a betakey. Sadface.

 

[Sinz]

Just reviving the thread since there are A LOT of keys out now.

My steam account is Scizorlizard if anyone would like to play. If you have any dota 2 questions feel free to ask me :D

 

[Rikana]

Just got a Dota 2 account from someone! Can't wait to play.

 

[Sinz]

Is this your first dota type game?

 

[Vyke]

Alright, so! Starting off.

I see Mask of Madness getting a lot of hate, and I'm not sure whether to believe it or not. I know Dota 2 is mostly pubs right now, but I see almost every Faceless Void build the dang thing. Is it wrong to believe that rushing a Hand of Midas would be more effective? Is Battle Fury a good option for Void, or should I just go for Monkey King Bar?

I enjoy ranking up Weaver's auto-attack skill first followed by his stealth, and apparently this isn't common? I'm not sure. I like the harass potential out of it, though.

 

[Sinz]

Alright, so! Starting off.

I see Mask of Madness getting a lot of hate, and I'm not sure whether to believe it or not. I know Dota 2 is mostly pubs right now, but I see almost every Faceless Void build the dang thing. Is it wrong to believe that rushing a Hand of Midas would be more effective? Is Battle Fury a good option for Void, or should I just go for Monkey King Bar?

I enjoy ranking up Weaver's auto-attack skill first followed by his stealth, and apparently this isn't common? I'm not sure. I like the harass potential out of it, though.

Void is the only hero that should ever get Mask of Madness. Against any team that knows how to chain stuns, the instant you turn on mask of madness all that is going to happen is you are going to get stunned and then get focused down with increased damage. It offers no stats that are beneficial(the other lifesteal items offer armor and damage. Armor is more important.)

The reason that Mask is good on Void is because of his ultimate and his passive. His ultimate is pretty big and if you are a decent player you will be able to use it pretty well. You just leap, ult, and mask and do a lot of auto attacks during the duration of your ultimate. Another reason why mask is ok on void is because of his passive. Its a rng based chance. So you have a good chance to stun lock someone in an one on one situation with mask on.

Hand of midas is a good item. If you can get it before the 9 minute mark. Go for it. Its well worth it and offers a lot of exp and gold over time.

Battlefury is good for void because it allows him to clear creep camps extremely quickly. Void's problem is that he doesn't have any aoe damage, which means farming is pretty hard for him if he has a rough start. If you can get a battle fury it allows you to farm quad stacks pretty easily. Not to mention that a key component, ring of health, is amazing during the laning phase. So if you pick that up you will have a much easier time staying in lane and just farming those creeps.

Also, don't think of Battlefury as a damage item. It isn't cost effective damage wise. If you need damage than go for manta style, mkb, butterfly, etc...

Weaver's invis is harassment as well. It also acts as an escape mechanism. That is why you get it at lvl 1. It does a good amount of damage and increases his movespeed substantially. This move allows him to be a pretty good solo(despite his main role being a hard carry role where he is normally babysat. Though this has to do with his short range auto attacks.)

Anything else?

 

[Vyke]

Vladimir's often gets some hate from what I hear, although apparently it's something desired very late-game because of the % base?

Should it feel neccesary to build MoM on Void? Or do you think I can get away with skipping it for Midas into Battlefury into something else? Because MoM, Midas, and Battlefury seems pretty expensive overall... but then again, my farming is lackluster because of the substantial difference compared to LoL's last-hitting.

So should I rank weaver stealth first, or ... ?

I enjoy playing Axe, am I wrong in thinking he's a good pick vs melee heavy teams because of Counter Helix? Apparently he's pretty lackluster in Dota 1 (Although he just got buffed the most recent patch.)

A list of good heroes to learn the game with from each attribute would be cool. I know Lion and Lich are pretty easy to start off with so far.

Oh, and I see some carries building Vanguard. When is it smart to pick this up as a carry?

 

[Sinz]

Weaver you should rank stealth first.

In pubs feel free to go mask of madness on Void. They don't have the coordination of a good team to manage against a void.

The normal build for pubs that I see is Treads, battle fury(around the 20-24 minute mark normally), and mask of madness into whatever your heart desires.

The build I see in competitive play the most is Treads, Battle fury(around the 14-16 minute mark), Manta style/ Black King Bar(depending on what the other line up is.)/ or Butterfly.

When you're playing any carry. Please get Black King Bar after you get your first damage item. Its really important.

Midas and Battlefury are both farming items. You get them in order to increase your farm. So you want to only choose to get one.

Axe isn't very good because of his disable having such short range.(THOUGH IT IS A PHYSICAL DISABLE. It goes through Black King bar.) Axe is ok if you can get a really good start. However, pretty much anyone else can do his role better than him. Like he'll be a nuisance during the laning phase against a melee heavy team, but if he doesn't get a stupidly good start he won't be much of a threat for the majority of the game. Also, if you do play axe never get battle hunger past lvl 1. This is not to say that he is completely useless. If you can get blink dagger you have an alright initiation. The problem is that his core(boots, vanguard, blink dagger) is really expensive compared to other initiators. (Earth shaker - mana boots - Blink dagger(not too mention that ES is a better ganker as well)) He is just really subpar. sadly. Extremely fun to play sometimes though. ^_^

Vanguard is an item that is counterscaling(my friends term not mine). It blocks a flat amount of damage from auto attacks. As the game goes longer, the less that matters. The earlier you have it. The more effective it is. Its a good pick up against any line up. It offers great hp. The damage block makes jungling and laning a breeze.

My personal things that I would recommend from each are as follows.

Strength - Sven, Dragon Knight, Earth Shaker, and Skeleton King.

Sven is pretty easy to play at low levels. Dragon Knight has a nice laning phase. Earth Shaker is a fun guy to learn because if you land one good fissure you feel ****ing awesome. And Skeleton king is pretty simple. You have two active spells. Your stun(which is a damage over time) and your ultimate. If you die with over 150(iirc?) mana you will come back to life and his ult will go on cooldown. Pretty easy hero to understand. ^_^

Also I understand that each of these heroes have their difficulties and can be played in many ways.

Agility - Juggernaut has the easiest time laning. If you have a slow or a stun in your lane you will usually win your lane in low level play. All you have to do is do a few attacks and the spin and just keep moving next to them and they will die.

Riki is pretty simple as well, just get cloud at lvl 2. Pounce first.(allows for an escape mechanism.)

Venomancer is really good as well. I learned HoN with Slither(copy of Venomancer. it was a port.) You have a slow, your auto attacks slow and do damage over time, you can place wards that help you farm, and your ultimate is huge. Really hard to miss.

Intelligence

Lich is really nice to play. He has no skill shots you have to worry about. He has great team fight presence. Has a great laning phase. Literally Lich is one of the best heroes in the game at the moment.

Lion is a great disabler and is one of the best at it.

Witch doctor is pretty good. His maledict is one of the scariest abilities in the game. If you can land a good maledict and then find a good spot to ult. People will die. That spell does so much damage all game long.

 

[Vyke]

Really helpful so far. What characters are proficient at jungling and usually DO jungle as opposed to having it as an option? I realize you probably should not jungle if your solo lane is going to get pooped on. Likewise, what are good 1v2 heroes?

Do most heroes that go mid build a bottle? Do any other positions build bottles?

Is Doom Bringer ult absurdly op?

Also, apparently Pit Lord was the best hero in the game at one point? Can you elaborate? I just want to know why when he gets ported over.

 

[Sinz]

Normal jungle heroes that you see are Chen(probably the best jungler in the game. But really tough to play well.), Enchantress(similar to chen.), Naix(lifestealer. His percent lifesteal is really good for jungling.), Axe, and enigma. A lot more heroes can jungle. I just can't remember all of them off the top of my head.

In 1 v 2 situations you want heroes with long range nukes that keep them at a good distance while giving them creep kills. Examples of this are Wind Runner, Clockwerk, and puck. Or they have a good escape mechanism such as Mirana or Queen of Pain.

Most mid heroes get a bottle because it allows for them to get rune control which is huge. The bottle also gives a lot of sustain in a lane and is refilled with the runes. It just encourages more aggressive play. Its a good thing.

Other lanes can get a bottle, but generally shouldn't. Its a good item.

Doombringer ult is nice. ^_^ The hero doesn't have too much going for him sadly. Just doesn't work too well against the most common competitive picks. But I love him. ^_^ For a hero with no slows, no stuns, and one silence that is an ult. His ult also costs a ton of mana, and Doom has a tiny mana pool so he can't just toss it out and be too cool for school. He has a lot of mana problems with his mana pool. But he farms so sexily with his q.

The pit lord op era was before my time sadly. You're going to have to ask Iggy on that one.

 

[Mota]

Good read Sinz

When I heard that DotA 1 had 4 news heroes and a handful of new items, I was pretty surprised. So much! DotA's the beta to the beta I suppose.

For those that still play the first DotA, what do you think of these new heroes?
The Shredder is mad fun, 4 second escape mech to tree

 

[Vyke]

I hear a lot of people screaming Legion Commander and Fire Spirit are op. I don't play so I have no comment on that, though.

 

[Miharu]

Really helpful so far. What characters are proficient at jungling and usually DO jungle as opposed to having it as an option?

enchant/chen jungle the vast majority of times that they are picked

furion/enigma are both extremely flexible during the laning stage, as they can both jungle and lane with ease. furion can actually just do whatever the **** he wants tbh since teleport/sprout/trees give him that flexibility

I realize you probably should not jungle if your solo lane is going to get pooped on.

well its a tradeoff and dependent on what your team's trying to accomplish early game

if you're trying to protect a hero like am/spec earlygame, then its okay to lose your long lane solo (also referred to as the suicide lane), provided that you win the other 2 lanes

the way junglers are used nowadays are to complement a dual lane so that it can basically just be a trilane vs trilane situation if it comes to that; otherwise the jungler is free to either farm or gank for the other 2 lanes

you'll see the heros like cw/wr/ds are often sent to the harder lanes since they're able to get some farm in even against harder lanes

Likewise, what are good 1v2 heroes?

sinz basically covered this

spider is an exception to this since webs provided invisibility/regen/mobility

Do most heroes that go mid build a bottle? Do any other positions build bottles?

yes, since rune control is huge; might as well give yourself free mana/hp if you're going to fight over them. additionally most heros that do go mid are nukers

exceptions to this rule are invoker/furion and a few others

otherwise, you can get bottle if you're a hero that will be frequenting the rune spots, and can make use of the hp/mana regen

Is Doom Bringer ult absurdly op?

not op, but it has its uses

Also, apparently Pit Lord was the best hero in the game at one point? Can you elaborate? I just want to know why when he gets ported over.

probably cause when he was first released, his ult allowed him to create a 2 way portal for his team anywhere on the map. so you could make 1 opening in the enemy's base, and one opening in your own fountain

I hear a lot of people screaming Legion Commander and Fire Spirit are op. I don't play so I have no comment on that, though.

legion commander's pretty funny from what i've seen

fire spirit has the potential to be strong, but i haven't played/seen him enough to be sure

the dragon rider seems really dumb/annoying

 

[Ignatius]

Also, apparently Pit Lord was the best hero in the game at one point? Can you elaborate? I just want to know why when he gets ported over.

I wouldn't say he was best in the game, but he was a pretty common pick during a time where you'd often run an AoE teamfight comp. He's also gotten reworked a bit since then, as well as AoE having fallen out awhile ago. He was one of the few heroes that was actually nerfed in 6.73 though, and I thought that was a bit silly, although slight.

But basically he had an AoE nuke, and AoE snare, and an AoE repeated ministun/damage. His ult is a teleport that can take allies near him to wherever he goes as well, which needs to be an allied creep or building.

 

[Miharu]

expulsion was REALLY strong before it got nerfed in .73

 

[Ignatius]

I haven't seen much of pitlord since his slight rework, so I'll have to take your word on that.

 

[Sinz]

I'll make a big post on stuff when i get back from my vacation on monday.

but in the meantime can you guys one up this post? The group that I cast with is hosting a dota 2 tournament and we are just trying to advertise it up ^_^

http://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/nvhsa/6000_dota2replays_brawl_teaser/

 

[DJRome]

where are people getting keys -_-

 

[Mic_128]

If you're doing the Winter Steam achieves, you have a chance to get a key from crafting the coal.

 

[Sinz]

Anyone up for a game tomorrow at 1700 MST(gmt - 7 ) tomorrow? I get back from vacation a tiny bit before if everything goes well on the drive. And I'm itching for some games.

edit: DJROME you should goto playdota and post in their threads they do a ton of give aways.

 

[DJRome]

I'll probably wait for it to go live. I have to wait for $ to fix my desktop anyways -_-

 

[Sinz]

Alright. Fun games ^_^ if anyone else would like to play sometime just ask. Im free all of today

 

[Rikana]

I'm willing to play if you're willing to play with someone that's still learning. I honestly don't think I'm that bad for a beginner. Currently learning Tidehunter.

Is this your first dota type game?

I played dota wc3 before. Never really got into it 'cause the community was pretty bad. The graphics wasn't very appealing to me either. I'm totally into dota2 though. I know my basics and such. I just need to keep up with the pace. Doing minor errors here and there.

 

[Sinz]

Dude I have no problem playing with beginners. My friends are terrible. but i love playing with them

 

[Rikana]

My steam is MaiLuckyCharms

 

[Miharu]

steam is iHEARTeunjung

just lmk that you're from swf or something if u want to play

 

[Rikana]

^ added.

Let me know when you guys wanna play a game.

 

[Rikana]

Who's stylee?

 

[Crossjeremiah]

add me Cross.
^^

 

[Rikana]

GG's with some people so far. Hope to play with more people.

 

[Miharu]

new minimap is awful

need an option to choose text/icons if they're going to this

i don't want lol icons showing up on my screen when i press alt

 

[KevinM]

I want their to be low textures so I can play the game :\

 

[Vyke]

new minimap is awful

need an option to choose text/icons if they're going to this

i don't want lol icons showing up on my screen when i press alt

You don't, but chances are it was the work of the feedback forum. Besides, who wants to READ?

reading is for squares

 

[fkacyan]

I want their to be low textures so I can play the game :\

You can't run Source? Are you playing on a 1997 Gateway? lmao

Silencer is annoying, Sbreaker is a ridiculous ganker. Skeleton King's ult on a 1min CD is absolutely hilarious.

 

[Vyke]

SBreaker gets stunned, zomg looks like Ursa.

 

[Miharu]

You don't, but chances are it was the work of the feedback forum. Besides, who wants to READ?

reading is for squares

point being is that they should have an option for this, since both of their benefits

icons are more probably easier to recognize for new players, whereas text is probably easier for those who aren't new to dota

the minimap overall does look a lot more crisp though, really like what they've done with that

 

[Sinz]

Silencer is good in organized play. Terrible in public play.

Spiritbreaker is good in public play. Terrible in organized play.

:D

I've had fun playing with everyone so far. If you ever have any questions don't hesitate to post or to just ask me.

 

[Rikana]

I've had fun playing with everyone so far. If you ever have any questions don't hesitate to post or to just ask me.

How big is your