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Game Phases
Continuing from yesterdays article… The game starts off with the laning stage with the most usual setup, 2 heroes on toplane, 1 midlane, 2 botlane, or 2-1-2 for short. The solo lane achieves more exp/experience points as time goes on because when a creep dies on a double lane the exp is split in half, or for how many heroes that are present in a range of 1300. This is why some teams opt for a trilane, 3-1-1 with 2 solos, or another solo jungle 2-1-1-1 allowing 3 solos, presumably carry’s, to gain exp and farm faster. The only problem with this is that without a support, a carry can be easily ganked and shutdown.
A hero will lose gold upon death. Ganking is the act of taking down an enemy hero in order to gain an exp and gold advantage. To prevent a team’s carry from being ganked/killed a good support would place yellow wards in the right places to provide vision and give an early head ups. The best way to escape a gank is to not be ganked in the first place. To escape a gank one could benefit from escape abilities or bought items like shadow blade (gives the hero 14 second invisibility), the blink dagger or force staff.
Knowing the terrain can give an upper hand. The map is filled with hills, cliffs and trees. A hero on top of a cliff has vision of below while the hero under the cliff has less vision because of the fog of war. The forest/jungle can also block vision and by staying close to the trees a player might be able to lose his chaser.
Pushing is a phase of rapidly destroying structures to get closer to the ancient and is essential to every win. As heroes delve deeper into enemy territory they are more exposed to possible ganks which may lead to a clash/team fight. After death the respawn time is 4 times the current level in seconds (e.g. level 10 has a respawn time of 40 seconds). Because of this, winning the fight can leave the enemy base unprotected and vulnerable with a nice sum of gold.
The strategy in team fights is to prioritize taking out heroes one at a time, rather than spreading the damage equally over 5 heroes. The first to take out should be the hero possessing the most danger usually the hitter/DPSer/glass cannon. Most hitters have high damage yet low health making them easy targets. Never go for the tank as a first target.
Counters
The majority of strategy planning occurs in the drafting stage when players pick their hero. In tournaments you have the ability to ban a certain hero from playing in the game. Professionals study the opposing team and take a bite at where they play best. Being a pro means to know the game all the way around. Some heroes have counters, for example the antimage is strong against mana reliant heroes such as storm spirit.
Without getting too technical these are the basics of Dota
