Hey clannies! I'm taking a break between classes here at school; 'tis a good time to write about what's been on my mind. As far as DotA goes, I know you all are just like me and want to get better and improve yourself in anyway possible (except for those of us who are already insanely good...*
cough*Incognito*cough*), so I've decided to post some links and offer some suggestions as to what I think could help us improve individually, as well as collectively.
First of all, one of the best guides I have read was sent to me by Clinton. It covers many aspects of gameplay beyond the basic level, that lots of other guides are lacking. You can find it here:
http://www.playdota.com/guides/improving-yourself-in-dota
Secondly, I read another good piece of advise that has helped me immensely when pushing. If you are pushing a tower, you want to get as much damage in as possible before it starts targeting you. One trick that works extremely well is to Ctrl+A click on a
non-deniable friendly creep (above 50% health), when the tower targets you. This will cause the tower to start attacked said creep. This works very well with heroes that can heal themselves, such as Dirge, and can help you take a tower down in little time. I rarely see people doing this, and backing away without getting a much as a few hits on a tower. Not very efficient :s.
Thirdly, I know you guys have lives, and girlfriends, and jobs, and school, and I am just as busy as all of you, but getting better at DotA is as easy as having a solid strategy, never being predictable, and practicing the piss out of it. I think we should open a new sub-topic somewhere here in the forum dedicated to strategy. We should learn each others playing style, offer advice, and develop team based strategies so we always have a plan when we go into battle. I mean come on, you want to win don't you?
Lastly, I must talk about what pains me the most...computer setup. As some of you may know, I am playing with less-than-modest hardware(I use my leg as a mousepad), and well...a carpenter is only as good as the tools he uses. Now, if you are like me, you don't have lots of $$$ to spend on recreational activities, but I'm willing to invest in this clan because I WANT TO WIN DAMMIT!
Below, I will post some links to gaming hardware that is specifically made for RTS/Computer games. Determine for yourself if any of these items are necessary for you; I will try to find a wide variety of hardware, from the top-of-the-line, to modestly priced. Know this though, If you use OEM hardware (hardware that came stock with your computer), you are limiting yourself to play to your best ability. I have more I want to discuss, but this is enough for now. Let me know what you guys think, and Xevian, please open a subtopic for Strategies or give me permission to do so, and make this post a sticky. Take care clannies!
Professional/Tournament-Grade Hardware: Razer Black Widow Ultimatehttp://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.211651300/categoryId.49136200/parentCategoryId.35156900
Razer Black Widow Regularhttp://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.211324200/categoryId.49136200/parentCategoryId.35156900
List of Razer Gaming Micehttp://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/DisplayCategoryProductListPage/categoryID.35208800
Logitech G-500 (best mouse for the $$$, imo)http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/devices/5750
More Useful Advice!!!From Sun Tzu's, 'Art of War': (think about how this applies to your hero choice)
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will
succumb in every battle.Bottle/Crow Abuse Method:The Crow/Bottle strategy should be your Early Game's focus point. It is designed to provide you with ample health and mana.
Here is how Crow/Bottle works:
Buy a chicken, and crow it ASAP. Buy a bottle, and fill it up.
Put your courier near the closest allied tower to you.
When you are low on mana and there are no runes, drink the bottle and give it to the pet. Select the Crow and use "Return home", "Burst", and shift-click "Transfer items" on your crow. Then continue laning. If there's anything you need from your base, buy it while the crow is near the fountain. When your pet returns, take your items and repeat the entire process. Do it as long as you remain in your lane. Don't hesitate to do it during Middle Game either. If you need mana and life without returning to the fountain, that's what you should do.
Town Scroll Abuse:There isn't much 'abuse' going on, since you cant really TP everywhere with the cooldown and mana cost; I'm using the word 'abuse' in reference to how important TP scrolls are early-mid game. Every good play[color=olive]er I've met has mentioned how it could single handedly be the most important item in all of DotA! From early-mid game you should always have at least 1 TP scroll with you at any given time. From helping with ganks, escaping from ganks, chasing, mobility, and in general, just coinciding with good playing, TP scrolls are invaluable. When the towers are pushed and the TP no longer becomes useful, you should already have enough gold for BoT, if thats the option you want to take.
In summary: Town Portal scrolls are vital to early and mid game success, and should be a part of any proficient player's arsenal.
FUN FACTS!
(did you know?)1. The team who scores
First Blood, wins 59% of the time. (8% margin of error.)
2. Pudge's Meathook can hook things you might have never known possible. For example, you can hook: invisible units, a corpse, Roshan (in some versions), morphling's waveform, mirana's leap, void's timewalk, and even some spell animations instead of the heroes themselves. o.O
3. Night and Day both last 10 minutes.
4. If Barathrum Nether Strikes a teleporting unit at the right moment, he will be teleported himself. (Oh hello Barathrum, say hello to my FOUNTAIN!)
5. Ogre Magi is the only melee hero whose primary attribute is intelligence
6. Lina Inverse is from the anime, "The Slayers"
7. A chicken can use the skills on such items as Dagon, Hand of Midas, and Mekansm, provided they have items which increase their mana pool enough to use them (for example, an Energy Booster, Point Booster or Soul Booster)
8. Juggernaut's Ultimate skill was based off of, and has the same name as Cloud's Limit Break from FFVII.
9. Axe's Culling Blade can go through Lord of Avenus' Borrowed Time, and Dazzle's Shallow Grave.
10. King Leoric is based off the skeleton kind in Diablo I.
11. Rikimaru was a ninja from a game called Tenchu: Stealth Assassin for the PS1.
12. There's no female hero whose primary is strength
13. The AoE of Naga Siren's level 3 Song of Siren is larger than a screen.
to be continued....
Sun Aug 21, 2011 9:54 pm by !BSU! Incognito
