DoTA 2 One: Not to be confused with DoTA 1 Two

[TubaMortim]

Definitely. That's why I think its a great luxury item for a support hero to survive against a physical hardcarry of the enemy team a little longer or kite him while your own carry is eating the face of their support.

[Dumbledore lives]

Wow Disruptor is fun. Played a game today with a Centaur were we got like four or five kills in the first five minutes, and in the end I had a lot of close encounters but ended 12-0-12. Little ridiculous for a support, but I bought all the right items like a force staff, mek, arcane boots, and then had 4k at the end.

[GreenSerpent]

So people have got screenshots of the Ember Spirit and Arc Warden new arts. They're pretty cool.

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[TubaMortim]

So people have got screenshots of the Ember Spirit and Arc Warden new arts. They're pretty cool.

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Wish they'd take another look at these and some other heroes before considering adding them to DotA 2. And then toss them in the trash bin.

[Fan]

So people have got screenshots of the Ember Spirit and Arc Warden new arts. They're pretty cool.

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Arc Warden is blatantly overpowered as he is, but I'm looking forward SO MUCH to Ember Spirit.

Sleight of Fist = bonus damage and auto's on everyone in AOE + a shackle shot that does DOT and always hits 2. albeit randomly, but if there are only 2 targets.

[Trixie]

Wish they'd take another look at these and some other heroes before considering adding them to DotA 2. And then toss them in the trash bin.

Why?

Alternatively, which ones?

[TubaMortim]

Warden is ridiculous, and I predict he won't ever be added to -cm without a rework. So why not do that now and not ruin non-cm games with him? Same goes for many other heroes.

I also think Ember is somewhat flawed, and needs more of a theme than just having all tools (damage, disable, mobility, survivability/tankiness).

Legion I don't particularly like on a personal level but I don't really care about the hero, the abilities aren't that strange or overpowered except for the odd trigger for lifesteal.

Techies has always been the second pudge, making games fun for 1 and not-fun for everyone else. (Both ally and enemy)

The newest heroes added after I swapped to dota 2? Seem just like Icefrog trying desperately to make new heroes so he slapped everything he could into abilities that make little sense to me. (The new stone guy and the oracle)

The Wyvern? Ultimate is completely broken.

Phoenix was changed a dozen times when I still played DotA, and for good reason. I think the Dive range should still be nerfed at least.

Terrorblade and Pit Lard currently are not my favorite versions, but I still prefer them to the newer heroes.

[Fan]

Warden is ridiculous, and I predict he won't ever be added to -cm without a rework. So why not do that now and not ruin non-cm games with him? Same goes for many other heroes.

I also think Ember is somewhat flawed, and needs more of a theme than just having all tools (damage, disable, mobility, survivability/tankiness).

Legion I don't particularly like on a personal level but I don't really care about the hero, the abilities aren't that strange or overpowered except for the odd trigger for lifesteal.

Techies has always been the second pudge, making games fun for 1 and not-fun for everyone else. (Both ally and enemy)

The newest heroes added after I swapped to dota 2? Seem just like Icefrog trying desperately to make new heroes so he slapped everything he could into abilities that make little sense to me. (The new stone guy and the oracle)

The Wyvern? Ultimate is completely broken.

Phoenix was changed a dozen times when I still played DotA, and for good reason. I think the Dive range should still be nerfed at least.

Terrorblade and Pit Lard currently are not my favorite versions, but I still prefer them to the newer heroes.

I love Ember Spirit playing him, but I absolutely agree on Wyvern, he completely trashes late game pushes. Good luck 5 man dotoing against him is all I'm saying.

Techies is HELL, it is the ultimate troll tool. I hate it. I hate it forever.

Arc Warden is legit broken, but his skills are already in the game, no icons but the particles are.

[Meta]

Good to see another dota thread!

Awhile back a few of us GitPers and our university/local friends formed a pretty consistent playgroup. We still play all the time (using the new guild functions!) we just don't post about Dota anymore.

I'm iNuzzle on steam, if you'd like to play, send me an invite.

If you're looking to get better, I can help there too, in game or out. I'm in the top 1% of matchmaking and I've got a lot of experience teaching new players, so feel free to ask any questions you may have!

GL HF

[TubaMortim]

Good to see another dota thread!

Awhile back a few of us GitPers and our university/local friends formed a pretty consistent playgroup. We still play all the time (using the new guild functions!) we just don't post about Dota anymore.

I'm iNuzzle on steam, if you'd like to play, send me an invite.

If you're looking to get better, I can help there too, in game or out. I'm in the top 1% of matchmaking and I've got a lot of experience teaching new players, so feel free to ask any questions you may have!

GL HF

What region/servers do you play on?

[Fan]

Good to see another dota thread!

Awhile back a few of us GitPers and our university/local friends formed a pretty consistent playgroup. We still play all the time (using the new guild functions!) we just don't post about Dota anymore.

I'm iNuzzle on steam, if you'd like to play, send me an invite.

If you're looking to get better, I can help there too, in game or out. I'm in the top 1% of matchmaking and I've got a lot of experience teaching new players, so feel free to ask any questions you may have!

GL HF

Top 1%?

I'm not too proud to ask for coaching, and offer item compensation.

[Meta]

I play on USEast generally, but I spent a few months in Spain this year, so I've gotten used to the 'ping commute' from EUWest as well.

I enjoy helping others learn, so I'm not too worried about compensation, but if you feel like your improvement is pretty drastic I'll accept a 'tip' of sorts I suppose.

The caveat of having a mentor being that if we search for public games together and you're just starting out you are going to get demolished in pretty much any laning scenario. The MM system averages our skill levels, yes, but also skews it upward, because people who queue together are assumed to have better coordination than a random 5. We can work around this though.

If there are a group of you who want to learn together, I can really help you improve in leaps and bounds. It would be to everyone's benefit to learn in a group, but solo is fine as well. I've got a few ideas of how to make this fun and informative.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this before, but I imagine a few of you are wondering how I know the specific percentile I'm in. Some months ago a popular stat tracking site called dotabuff published everyone's matchmaking rating (an ELO score basically) and the percentile that landed one in. Valve shut that down really quickly, but quite a few long term players learned theirs beforehand.

[Nadevoc]

I'm down for learning, with the note that I have *very* little DotA experience in the recent past. I played the original DotA at a rather casual level when I was in high school, but that was... well, it was a while ago, so all that skill/knowledge is pretty much gone.

I'm xenon_atom on Steam, though from my understanding those names might be non-unique so there might be others with the same name out there? Not very experienced with the multiplayer parts of Steam, to be honest.

[Fan]

I play on USEast generally, but I spent a few months in Spain this year, so I've gotten used to the 'ping commute' from EUWest as well.

I enjoy helping others learn, so I'm not too worried about compensation, but if you feel like your improvement is pretty drastic I'll accept a 'tip' of sorts I suppose.

The caveat of having a mentor being that if we search for public games together and you're just starting out you are going to get demolished in pretty much any laning scenario. The MM system averages our skill levels, yes, but also skews it upward, because people who queue together are assumed to have better coordination than a random 5. We can work around this though.

If there are a group of you who want to learn together, I can really help you improve in leaps and bounds. It would be to everyone's benefit to learn in a group, but solo is fine as well. I've got a few ideas of how to make this fun and informative.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this before, but I imagine a few of you are wondering how I know the specific percentile I'm in. Some months ago a popular stat tracking site called dotabuff published everyone's matchmaking rating (an ELO score basically) and the percentile that landed one in. Valve shut that down really quickly, but quite a few long term players learned theirs beforehand.

I'm well aware of how DOTAbuff, but I myself am only in the High bracket of match making. Looking to hit up V. High and get into the actually good bracket of DOTA players.

I am 100% serious, and looking to break into a level of play to one day try and hit up the more professional tiers of DOTA gaming. I'm open to even scathing criticism on positioning and play mistakes.

Add me on The Great and Tasty Vincent.

[Meta]

I'm down for learning, with the note that I have *very* little DotA experience in the recent past. I played the original DotA at a rather casual level when I was in high school, but that was... well, it was a while ago, so all that skill/knowledge is pretty much gone.

I'm xenon_atom on Steam, though from my understanding those names might be non-unique so there might be others with the same name out there? Not very experienced with the multiplayer parts of Steam, to be honest.

Good call on the steam profiles. I think that if you type in 'iNuzzle' it should be okay, because it's the name I registered with, but just in case: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198039602910

As a bonus you might just get to match make with that fabulous Frieza in the background of my profile pic!

If you lot are interested in learning in a group feel free to have a conversation here to help organize it. Maybe list what roles/heroes you enjoy, what strengths and weakness you feel you have, and what you want to get out of this process. Even if we do proceed solo at least this is easier to reference than a mix of steam messages.

[DoctorWhooves]

....fabulous?

[GreenSerpent]

I myself am going to be running through the heroes I like to play today - I've been playing LoL recently and I need to practise a couple of heroes. Plus try some new ones.

[Welf]

Techies has always been the second pudge, making games fun for 1 and not-fun for everyone else. (Both ally and enemy)

What is so terrible about Pudge? (I never played him)

[Octopus Jack]

What is so terrible about Pudge? (I never played him)

A bad Pudge hooks teammates away from kills, never hooks enemies, maxes flesh heap first and spends far too much time with rot on than he should. A good pudge on the other hand is a force to be reckoned with, luckily one of my dota buddies is a good Pudge but most of the ones you get in pub games are the bad kind.

[GreenSerpent]

A bad Pudge hooks teammates away from kills, never hooks enemies, maxes flesh heap first and spends far too much time with rot on than he should. A good pudge on the other hand is a force to be reckoned with, luckily one of my dota buddies is a good Pudge but most of the ones you get in pub games are the bad kind.

It could be worse - once I was playing Pudge and our Faceless Void used Time Warp to chase an enemy (Leshrac I think).

FV was behind me, the enemy was in front of me, and I'd just flung a hook to do the finishing blow. They got away because of that.

[Teln]

I play on USEast generally, but I spent a few months in Spain this year, so I've gotten used to the 'ping commute' from EUWest as well.

I enjoy helping others learn, so I'm not too worried about compensation, but if you feel like your improvement is pretty drastic I'll accept a 'tip' of sorts I suppose.

The caveat of having a mentor being that if we search for public games together and you're just starting out you are going to get demolished in pretty much any laning scenario. The MM system averages our skill levels, yes, but also skews it upward, because people who queue together are assumed to have better coordination than a random 5. We can work around this though.

If there are a group of you who want to learn together, I can really help you improve in leaps and bounds. It would be to everyone's benefit to learn in a group, but solo is fine as well. I've got a few ideas of how to make this fun and informative.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this before, but I imagine a few of you are wondering how I know the specific percentile I'm in. Some months ago a popular stat tracking site called dotabuff published everyone's matchmaking rating (an ELO score basically) and the percentile that landed one in. Valve shut that down really quickly, but quite a few long term players learned theirs beforehand.

You would offer this the day before I went on vacation for a week. Meh, consider this an expression of interest for when I get back.

[Fan]

It could be worse - once I was playing Pudge and our Faceless Void used Time Warp to chase an enemy (Leshrac I think).

FV was behind me, the enemy was in front of me, and I'd just flung a hook to do the finishing blow. They got away because of that.

Tis the main problem with pubs. A: No one trusts each other, and B: No one communicates.

Also 1 person is a wasted faceless ult.

[TubaMortim]

Besides failing hooks, Pudge is often a useless hero if you're playing from behind. He can't help defend towers by hooking enemies if that just serves as a free initiation for them, and he can't do much else.

In a big clash hitting hooks can be difficult even for a great player (creeps, illusions, allies etc), and if you can't do all you can do is chew on someone in melee range. Cue their physical hitter ripping your fat behind to bits.

What he does well is dominate the map and lanes, but you usually need at least one or two allies to score a kill unless its a squishy support. In pubs your allies are just going to farm lanes and jungle, and usually can't chain or combo abilities even if explained (stun/sleep/x to hook etc).

Similarly, Bounty Hunter can be a great hero as shown by pro teams, but in pubs half the players want to play him as a hard carry or a solo ganker (remember those allies afk-farming?), both which he can't really do.

[GreenSerpent]

Tis the main problem with pubs. A: No one trusts each other, and B: No one communicates.

Also 1 person is a wasted faceless ult.

Worse.

Today in a bot game I was playing Ogre Magi with a FV. Four of our team including him and me were in the mid lane having just won a teamfight. The only one left was the Jakiro bot and FV decided it would be a MAGNIFICENT idea to secure the kill with Chronosphere.

Right as Jakiro dropped a Macropyre on me, FV, and the other two.

Luckily a) I was Ogre Magi, so I was tanky as all hell and b) my allies were at high health after the teamfight, otherwise he'd have handed them an Ultra Kill.

Though I did get my revenge, heh.

[Octopus Jack]

Worse.

Today in a bot game I was playing Ogre Magi with a FV. Four of our team including him and me were in the mid lane having just won a teamfight. The only one left was the Jakiro bot and FV decided it would be a MAGNIFICENT idea to secure the kill with Chronosphere.

Right as Jakiro dropped a Macropyre on me, FV, and the other two.

Luckily a) I was Ogre Magi, so I was tanky as all hell and b) my allies were at high health after the teamfight, otherwise he'd have handed them an Ultra Kill.

Though I did get my revenge, heh.

Yeah you do see some abysmal void ults.

Though for some reason the character I fear most on both mine and the enemy team is Spirit Breaker. On my time they always seem to be suicidal morons who will run in on their own against a full health target or team and get instantly crushed, on the enemy team they always seem to have perfect timing, interrupting fights, chasing people down and generally always getting fed.

I don't know why this is, it just always seems to be the case.

[TubaMortim]

SB seems to have a better-than-average win rate in low-level games, since nobody's allies are going to help them or tp to countergank

[Trixie]

So, would this be a good place to maybe swap some cards for compendium?

[GreenSerpent]

So, would this be a good place to maybe swap some cards for compendium?

Probably, oh great and powerful Trixie.

(also, in case anyone was wondering what my "revenge" was, I'll say two words. Force. Staff.)

[Anteros]

So, I'm just getting into this. I'm slowly getting slightly less terrible...to the point where I can at least consistently beat the bots. I haven't actually tried a pub game yet, but I'm thinking of jumping into a few soon.

Any tips for a newbie? I already read the new player guides.

[Lunix Vandal]

So ... just had an unfortunate example of how a poorly coordinated team can throw away even a massive early advantage.

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I'm the last to pick in a Medium bot game. Since we already have two carries (Void and Alch) and two support-ish heroes (Bane and Abaddon), I choose to grab a mid. Forgetting for a moment that we also have 3 melee heroes already (one of whom is Void!), I pick Night Stalker. Lanes go a bit wonky (Void/Alch both run to safelane, so Bane/Abaddon take hardlane), but I figure we can make it up in the midgame. The first four minutes are fairly uneventful ... until I snag a Haste rune out from under Viper and First Blood him. When first night hits, I'm already Level 7, with Urn and Phase at the ready. When first night ends, I'm 8/0/2, Level 11 with Armlet. Across both teams, the score is 10-1.

Unfortunately, this means the team's wealth and XP is mostly concentrated on me at this point, and Viper and Chaos Knight have picked up their ults -- meaning I can't 1v2 anything involving either of them, especially if Jakiro's there to chain Ice Path off of a long CK stun. And (worse) Void and Alch don't understand how their characters work. Void rushes Battle Fury and promptly tries to teamfight rather than catch up on levels and farm. Alch's build is just weird -- Headdress, Oblivion Staff, Smoke (never used), brown boots, Crystalis ... ugh. Most everyone died repeatedly due to the whole team (myself included) picking bad engagements, and it just went downhill from there. Game ended at 51 minutes with all of the bots' outer towers down, our Ancient swarmed by mega creeps, and the bots with a ten-kill lead.

The bots, Bane, and Abaddon were all in the Level 16-20 range at the end.
I was 25, and realized far too late that I should have started an MKB a half hour sooner.
Alch was 13. No kills, and more deaths than assists.
Void was 11. His only kill was the one I fed him at the start of first night.

Obligatory horrible Void ult: Teamfight mid, Void lands Chrono on me, all three non-illusion bots, all three CKs, and two of the three Vipers. That's good, right? Wrong. The Viper that wasn't in the ult was the real one, and took advantage of Void's MoM (he was focused on a CK illusion) to kill him and burn down a third of my HP before Chrono ended. CK then dropped a 4 second stun on me as soon as Chrono ended. Cue TPK.

That kind of nonsense aside, I'm usually online afternoons and late nights (US time), if anyone feels like stacking up.
I really should play more pubs and less Medium/Hard bot games.