DotA vs League vs HotS

[Baby Gary]

the title says it all. in you opinion which is better for a noob (me!), which is the simplest, which is the funnest, and anything else about these three games.

[Bucky]

HotS is simplest. DotA is the one where you don't need to grind a bunch before you can start learning.

[Lethologica]

Whichever one your friends are playing is the best one to play. All these games are like 10x better if you play with people you know instead of whatever random assortment of strangers pops out of the queue.

Failing that, HotS is the simplest, DotA is the most complex, and LoL is the most popular. All of which might be virtues or vices depending on what you want out of the game. Bucky's right to point out DotA's lack of grinding, too--microtransaction mechanics are a b****.

[Meta]

Each does things differently, and you could certainly try them all to see what grabs you.

Dota is my preferred being the most competitive, 100% available from the start, and I consider Valve the best company of the three, though that's mostly Riot being garbage more than any particular grievance with Blizz.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I’ve never played DotA, but out of the other two my preference is HotS. Unfortunately, not as many of my friends play it and until recently I had a lot of server issues, so I definitely wind up playing much more League. Not that I’m good at either game.

[Olinser]

the title says it all. in you opinion which is better for a noob (me!), which is the simplest, which is the funnest, and anything else about these three games.

HoTS is the simplest to learn and has the fastest games.

DOTA is by far the most complicated with the most details to learn and understand, but with the caveat that all champions are available to play immediately. So it's much more complicated to learn the game itself but there is no grinding or barrier to playing any champion you want.

LoL is in the middle. I've played all 3 and I personally enjoy LoL the most.

[ImperatorV]

I have over 500 hours on Dota, less then half that on LoL, and maybe 50~ish on HotS. So I'm pretty qualified to answer this.

In terms of best for a new player, I'd have to give it to Heroes. HotS is a lot more streamlined then either of the others, cutting out finicky mechanics that take a lot of practice and frustration to get right. It also doesn't have in-game items, which is one less thing to learn how to use properly. Heroes also has comeback mechanics; in Dota or LoL if you screw up the enemy will start snowballing and an inexperienced player will never catch up. In HotS, it's easier to turn a game you're currently losing around. Of course, this cuts both ways and in HotS your opponents will end up making comebacks as well. This is not to say you can't win a game of Dota or LoL from behind, indeed I have won games from very far behind and have seen pro games won from very far behind. However, LoL and especially Dota are very punishing of mistakes, and a bad screwup, which someone new to MOBAs will end up making fairly often, can cost your team the game. Also, unless you are playing with friends or nice people your team will not suffer your mistakes well. It's a sad truth in MOBAs that when one player is causing issues for the team, they will often end up on the receiving end of a lot of verbal abuse. Playing with friends can mitigate this, as can not caring what random people on the internet say. In Heroes of the Storm screwups are less likely to put the opponents very far ahead, which obviously is good for new players especially if you don't like being yelled at.

League is the game that looks the prettiest (IMO), it also has the largest and most active community. This makes it easier to find friends who also play the game, and playing MOBAs with people you know and like is always better then going solo. League occupies a middle ground in terms of finicky weird mechanics - it has more the HotS and less then Dota. Expect to spend a while learning things like last hitting, farm distribution, and detailed team composition. Of the three this is my favorite for casual play or simply hanging out with friends. As for what I do when I want a challenge...

As you may have noticed, Dota is the game I have spent the most time playing, and it's my favorite. It's the only MOBA I watch pro matches for, and I think it has the most depth, both tactical and strategic. It doesn't have a learning curve though, it has a learning cliff. Unlike with the other two games, every character in the game (112) is available to every player. Also, unlike in other games characters in Dota frequently have abilities that you will die too, period if you don't know what they do. Expect to have a lot of nasty surprises until you've memorized what all 112 characters are capable of, something that only really comes from playing against them and getting your butt kicked. Dota also has the most finicky little mechanics of any of the games. You've got last hitting, a very complex and fluid system of lane compositions and team comps, a lot of rules of how you should play that have a lot of exceptions you'll probably find out the hard way, last hitting your own units to deny the enemy gold, stacking and pulling neutral creeps, warding - which can take a looooong time to master in some cases(me), heroes who can play in multiple different team roles, entire heroes built around alternative styles of play that are completely different from what you normally do, the most impactful item builds of the two games that have item shops, items that change how a character is played, items that change how your abilities work, items that give you abilities that are better then some of your character's innate powers, and a whole lot of other stuff that I don't even actively remember anymore because it's all become instinct. And I'm not even very good at Dota. All of this adds up to a game that is really punishing to new players. I still think it's the best game, and frankly I'd say if you're looking for the most fun and don't mind really heavy competition it's the best choice. Be aware though, it'll take a lot of time and tears before you stop sucking at it.

One upshot of Dota that has been mentioned is everything in the game is available from the start.

...That was long-winded. Anyway, hope my ramblings have been helpful.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

HotS and Dota have more interesting macro play, HotS is faster (which lets you learn quicker), Dota and LoL have more mechanics (which lets experienced players leverage knowledge advantages). I'd say HotS, easy. Its focus on teamplay over 1v1s is refreshing, and not having to wait 30-40 minutes to get feedback on my mistakes is great too.

[CharonsHelper]

Whichever one your friends are playing is the best one to play. All these games are like 10x better if you play with people you know instead of whatever random assortment of strangers pops out of the queue.

This x100. I really liked LoL (and played HoTS for awhile - but all of the random maps got annoying) but I was chased away by the toxicity. Unfortunately, I can't wrangle a full team even semi-consistently.

[Artanis]

Whichever one your friends are playing is the best one to play. All these games are like 10x better if you play with people you know instead of whatever random assortment of strangers pops out of the queue.

I'm just chiming in to give this a great, big "QFT".

[Gandariel]

Only played hots.

Never touched the other two because I was scared of the huge amount of stuff you had to learn to even get in: items, matchups, etc.
Also I thought farming gold was dumb and 45 minutes games were way too long.

Hots solved all my issues, as games end around 15-20 minutes, no gold, and small roster when I joined (Beta). (Also, played SC1-2 and Diablo2 for years)

Now, I still play hots and I like it a lot. It's a very good game and the developers are clearly putting a lot of work into it.

To be honest, if I passed the entry barrier I'd probably enjoy the other two games, too, but right now I don't really see a reason to change, since I still enjoy Hots a lot (and my qualms about gold farming and long games still stand)

As far as e sports goes, I find hots esports kinda boring (SC2 is more interesting to watch IMO).
Tried watching the other 2 once, understood very little and they seemed even more boring.

Overall, HotS drew me with several features I prefer, and have no intention to switch over. Of course, any of them is 100x better than the others if you play with even one friend.

Not sure I'd still be playing if I had noone to play with.

[Togath]

One other kind of neat thing about HotS: there's a fair number of heroes who mess around with changing mechanics. Stuff like Cho'gal where you and a friend share a pair of legs, or Abathur who rides around on allies's heads, as well as stuff like The Three Vikings, where you control more than one unit at once, RTS style.

[Kitten Champion]

I used to play League, but I found it was spending nearly an hour of my life each game for maybe 5-10 minutes of actually enjoyable gameplay, so I subconsciously found myself playing less and less as just the thought of queuing into a game seemed needlessly arduous. Eventually I dropped off altogether, pretty sure it's still installed on my home PC though.

I'd probably have kept up had I played with friends, but the only game I managed to do that with was WoW and that was back when I and the people I played with had the time. Such is life.

I later started playing HotS because it was on the Blizzard App, and I didn't have much gaming software for my laptop. What I found was a polished game built around teamwork and fun which I could pop in and play 2-3 matches every few days whenever the mood struck me. I do the brawls and play QM - or if I'm tired/my internet is acting up go all-AI games - and aim to buy a new Hero every other week or so.

It's just easier to engage with, at least on a casual level.

[Gandariel]

Additionally, I don't think the *all heroes are free* is such a strong argument.

Both HotS and LoL feature a weekly rotation of free heroes (14 for both games), you get some free heroes at the start, and not all heroes are super expensive.

Considering that when you're new, you don't really know what you like, my "new player experience" was pretty good. Each week I had new heroes I could try and get a feel of, and purchase if I really enjoyed them.
I didn't feel hampered by not having access to more heroes, because for several months I was still being offered heroes I had never tried in the rotation. Afterwards, i had gathered a large enough pool of my favorites that I didn't really mind not owning the others.

(Again, my experience is only HotS, but i assume LoL is similar in this aspect)

[Bucky]

Has League of Legends improved its tutorial in the last few years?

[Meta]

Having only rotations can be bad for experiencing the real balance of the game I bet. What if a hero/champion/character has no real counters in that set?

You could play all the content of an RPG using only fire spells but I bet it changes the feel of the game dramatically.

[Lethologica]

LoL has worked on its tutorials, but they're still grossly insufficient to teach good gameplay.

Having only rotations can be bad for experiencing the real balance of the game I bet. What if a hero/champion/character has no real counters in that set?

You could play all the content of an RPG using only fire spells but I bet it changes the feel of the game dramatically.

Optimistically, actual hard counters are rare.

Realistically, no one who is reliant on the free champion rotation in LoL or HotS is good enough to care what actually counters what. "The real balance of the game" doesn't show up at this level no matter what options are available.

Cynically, when games are decided by which team has more smurfs, it's not like anyone's getting "the real balance of the game" anyway.

[Bucky]

There are a couple of problems with learning via the free character rotation.

The larger one has to do with the balance between learning characters and learning mechanics. Ideally a newbie could learn how to use a few characters' abilities and then mostly stick with those characters for ~30 plays so they can focus on more general skills. If they follow the free rotation, they need to take a few games each week where they focus on getting used to using new characters. And if they only play a few games per week, they will learn the broader points a lot slower because learning new characters takes most of their effort.

Another point is that one of the quickest ways to learn to counter an apparently unbeatable tactic is to try it and see how you lose. But if you don't have access to the necessary character that won't work.

[Lethologica]

There are a couple of problems with learning via the free character rotation.

The larger one has to do with the balance between learning characters and learning mechanics. Ideally a newbie could learn how to use a few characters' abilities and then mostly stick with those characters for ~30 plays so they can focus on more general skills. If they follow the free rotation, they need to take a few games each week where they focus on getting used to using new characters. And if they only play a few games per week, they will learn the broader points a lot slower because learning new characters takes most of their effort.

Another point is that one of the quickest ways to learn to counter an apparently unbeatable tactic is to try it and see how you lose. But if you don't have access to the necessary character that won't work.

The barrier to having 'a few characters' to stick with for a while is extremely low in LoL--no one is dependent on the free character rotation to that extent. New players always have the same characters available from levels 1-5, and by then have enough IP to have unlocked some champions (in addition to certain champions that are available for free). I can't speak to HotS, but I doubt it differs much.

Granted, though, that learning specific characters' ins and outs is much harder without access to those characters.

[Togath]

HotS starts you with about 15 champions for free(of various categories, unless that newbie bonus has changed?), while iirc, in LoL you have to buy a few(With DotA going the opposite direction with every hero free).
edit: or was it 10 for HotS? Might be misremembering. You get(or got, haven't made a new account, but I'd assume it still works the same) your choice of a few heroes of a certain "type". Support, assassin, tank, etc.

[Thrantar]

It seems worth pointing out that League is doing a major overhaul of champion acquisition and player rewards this postseason. I would expect preliminary changes to start in ~6-8 weeks, with further modification for about 3 months after that, as the changes are refined. Not that I am not an employee of Riot. All timeframes are estimates. The magnitude of any changes is unknown to me.

[Togath]

It seems worth pointing out that League is doing a major overhaul of champion acquisition and player rewards this postseason. I would expect preliminary changes to start in ~6-8 weeks, with further modification for about 3 months after that, as the changes are refined. Not that I am not an employee of Riot. All timeframes are estimates. The magnitude of any changes is unknown to me.

This too! They're gonna make it a lot easier for starting players to earn champions.

[Meta]

Not that I am not an employee of Riot.

Intentional?

[Geno9999]

I played... I think 3 games of DotA 2? My brother tried to teach me the game, but it didn't really feel like it clicked with me.

However, earlier this year with the HotS 2.0 event (which pulled me in because of the Genji and D.va skins for Overwatch) and now I'm hooked on that. I blame the daily quest system.

[Gandariel]

Hots gives a few freebie heroes when you start.

You get one when you finish the tutorial, you get I think 2 more if someone invited you (anyone interested? Can provide link).

Plus, your first games will give you a bunch of gold and gems with which you can purchase... I wanna say 3-4 more? (IIRC you get 1000 gems and 10-15K gold, heroes can be bought with either and cost 2-4-7-10k gold or 100-400 gems)

When HotS 2.0 came out you also got to pick a box of 20 free heroes. (What Togath referred to)

Now that promotion is over, but the remaining stuff is still here.

[Gandariel]

Dota is the best game where you need think, plan, make your own tactic and develop your skill all the time...definitely, my choice is dota.

Most of us (especially me) are biased towards one of these games, but we're trying to have a constructive conversation; saying "Dota is best" doesn't add much to the discussion.

Have you ever tried the other two? If not, why? What do you think are the main differences, and what are the factors that made to choose ( and stick with ) Dota?

[Sandsme]

Whichever one your friends are playing is the best one to play. All these games are like 10x better if you play with people you know instead of whatever random assortment of strangers pops out of the queue.

This!
My friends are playing Hots right now, the game seems nice and it is really good to play as a team.
I really hate to play alone, feels like too much stress for a game.

[Gandariel]

Some HotS team combos that are really fun to try: Cho'gall + Auriel, Ana + Medivh (basically 100% W uptime), Ana+Jaina (Q build with Icy Veins, true machinegun), or a full specialist split push comp