indiefinch

@VisariLoyalist said:

I think you are exaggerating when you say you won't understand why people love the game for 100 hours

Maybe, but it is just my personal belief that it takes time to get over the initial hump. 100 hours is around 100 games in, generally after 100 games you get a taste of a handful of heros and begin to play tougher competition that is equal to your skill. Maybe to understand why people love the game is the wrong phase, maybe I should have said wrap your head around the complexity of the game and for things to click.

@Acura_Max: The community isn't as bad as people like to make it seem. Yes you will run into a lot of really bad people, but you also will run into a lot of really nice people. The usual problem lies in the fact that a single game can last anywhere from 20:00 to 60:00+ but all it takes is 1 person to make 1 mistake and your team loses. If you have 1 new person on your team, they tend to be the weakest link and can cause the loss. Rather then people giving the newer player tips or helping them, they resort to the typical internet conversations of "OMG NOOBS, GG WE LOSE." You just have to put those people on ignore and make friends with those who are fun to play with.

@aquamarin said:

Just gonna jump out there and say it's too late for anyone new to get any fun out of MOBAs. Am I out of bounds with that statement?

Nope, now is the time to jump into the ARTS genre (MOBA is a term coined by Riot so people would stop calling it a "dota type game.") Dota 2 does a pretty good job with the matchmaking, so you wont be getting crushed by people who are way better then you. Also there are tons and tons of people coming to Dota 2 who never touched Dota 1.

As far as ES as a starting hero, thats just my personal opinion. I don't think its that hard to realize that you make a wall with your fissure. But its just a personal thing, some people find initiation easy where as others finch support easy...just try each in a bot game and play your favorite.

More and more posts are popping up of new people trying out Dota 2 looking for assistance / want to learn the game. Rather then a ton of separate posts, why not have one topic.

To start off, Dota is an extremely high skill, competitive, and hard game. That being said, Dota is also one of the most strategic, exciting, and satisfying games to ever be created. It is also unique in that how much you enjoy the game will be based off how much you know / how skilled you are. If you dive right in, chances are you are going to have a bad time. So please please please, learn as much as you can, play some bot games, and ask a ton of questions before you begin to make a decision if you want to play the game or not. The first initial 100 hours will be rough, but everyone playing the game has been in the same point. But once you get over the initial hump, things will click and you will realize why people enjoy the game.

Rather then re-writing a guide, here is the best Dota guide ever written. Purge is one of the nicest and hardest working people in eSports, so please utilize his guide, his videos, and his stream to begin to learn the game. http://www.purgegamers.com/welcome-to-dota-you-suck#.UM4noG9E4ws

Some quick info that I would like to add on top of that. If you are new, here are the heros you want to start playing first. They are: Tidehunter, Venomancer, Sand King, Lion, Lich, Warlock, Vengeful Spirit, Crystal Maiden, Skeleton King, Centaur, Shadow Shaman, Windrunner, and Earthshaker. The reason being, all of these heros are generally easy to play but they each have a spell that is fantastic in helping your team win the game. In Dota, abilities will do the same set amount of damage as they say on the tool tip, they do not scale. So for example, a Tidehunter ultimate will be super effective all game long...no matter the items you get or kills you achieve. This is opposed to someone like Anti Mage, he is an agility based carry who is farm dependent. If Anti Mage starts off well and gets a bunch of items (Battlefury, Manta Style...etc) then he will absolutely crush his enemies. However if he does not achieve those items in a reasonable time, has a bad start, of doesn't get last hits...he will become an absolutely useless hero. As a new player you need time to learn the mechanics, the items, the heros, the map...etc thing that people are still learning a decade after Dota began. So start with the heros that allow you to be effect all game long without having the mechanics / knowledge required. You will have way more fun and will enjoy learning the game, rather then getting frustrated.

One last note, Dota is notoriously known as a game with a very hostile community. This is true, people can be very harsh on new players, but not everyone is. So do not let a few rotten apples ruin your time in the game. Please ask questions, utilize the guides out there, watch a ton of game...by doing all these you will have a way better time within Dota. It truly is one of the most beautifully crafted games out there.

If you are looking for more Dota info, check out the podcast I do called Dota Insight. We are working on creating guides for heros and catering questions / discussions towards newer players coming into the scene.

The tutorial proper should be out within a few months, they just started working on it about a month ago. If you want to learn the game, look at some of the previous posts...I feel like I continue to post the same info over and over.

The guide you need to read is - http://www.purgegamers.com/welcome-to-dota-you-suck#.UM4noG9E4ws

After reading that, jump in and play bot games. As some people here suggested playing Drow Ranger...that is the absolute WORST possible suggestion. Drow is a hard carry, in which you need farm in order to be effective. If you are a new player, 99% chance is you can not last hit, you do not have map awareness, or understand item builds to be the carry for you team. The heros you want to start out with are heros who rely on spells to help the team. The best being, Tidehunter, Earthshaker, Sand King, Lich, Windrunner, Witch Dr, Shadow Shaman, Venomancer...to name some. They all have one thing in common, which is they have big abilities that are fantastic tools for your team. It doesnt matter if you get last hits, or if you die, or if your positioning sucks. If you can get into a team fight and hit "R" with Tide, ES, Lich...etc you can have a major impact on the fight for your team.

Start with heros like this until you begin to understand how the game is played, team synergy, and just become a better player. People always tell me, "But I want to kill stuff!!" The best answer I have is go into a game, pick a carry and see what your last hits are. After 20 min into the game you should be at 100 MINIMUM. If you are sub 100 at the 20:00 min mark, then you are not ready and will be a useless to the team!

If you need help, please ask questions / find me in game. I am always teaching new players and want to get people involved in the genre. Find me in the GiantBomb channel or the DotaInsight channel (podcast I do) and I will totally help you out. But suggesting heros like Clinkz, Riki, Drow to a new player is possibly some of the worst advice someone could give you. Its like telling someone to build a Lothars or a Sange & Yasha on every hero....bad idea!!

It is quite a bit different, but still worth diving in. Read this guide first, http://www.purgegamers.com/welcome-to-dota-you-suck

That should get you knowing the basics before diving in. Just ask questions and realize that is a game where you can play 1000 hours and still be considered a noob. You will never actually master the game, but it is well worth the experience.

@Mr_Skeleton said:

Seeing as there are a lot of new players right now from Giant Bomb, you guys should play together.

@Benny: Add me on Steam, there is a link a few posts above.

Yes! Get together, play bots, ask questions. Everyone go read http://www.purgegamers.com/welcome-to-dota-you-suck before even installing the game! I am always willing to teach / answer questions so look for me in the GiantBomb chat channel or the DotaInsight chat channel.

But as far as the announcer pack, so excited! Now if we can only get a Glados one sooner or later.......

The games have been really top notch. Really enjoying watching Notidehunter, just solid play all around. The finals of NTH and EG should be amazing as well. If you haven't started watching professional Dota yet, this is a great time to start!

Your best bet is to just run Windows in bootcamp. I have a 500gig / 500gig partition on my iMac. But on my Macbook Pro I put just about 50gigs or less only to play Dota 2 while on the go. It might be worth it to just bootcamp and play some Dota then once they release the mac version remove the partition. It will take you less then an hour and I have never had any problems with it. Bits of the Mac client did show up this week on the Dota 2 Test client, but I have not seen any confirmation that anyone has gotten it to work.

@rempresent: I would say to just dive right in with people. No bots can prepare for you human reactions throughout a game. When I first started I would do maybe 1 or 2 bot games with a hero just to get a feel of what the abilities looked like and when to use them. After that, just dive right in. Even after you get over that initial hump, you will begin to recognize heros and their abilities where you don't really need to go into a bot game to learn them (unless its a harder hero such as Invoker or Meepo). You will begin to feel comfortable soon enough, then thats when the game truly becomes fun!

@rempresent said:

T A follow up question. Is it a good idea to learn a hero from each class (carry, nuke, Disabler, etc.)?

Start with heros who do not require farm. Try a few initiation heros (such as Tidehunter, Sand King, and Earthshaker), try a few hard supports (Crystal Maiden, Lich) ,try a few semi supports (Venomancer, Windrunner, Vengeful Spirit and build them supporty by buying wards / courier / mekanism) Then see what you enjoy most and focus on that until you get a good feel of the game. I would suggest not playing a carry until you are able to sink 100-200+ hours into the game. A good bench mark to see if you are capable of playing a carry is going into a bot game and get a CS (creep score or last hits) of 100+ at the 20:00 min mark. If you can do that pretty easily with multiple heros with varying attack speeds / base damage...then you are ready to play a carry. I have know a huge amount of people who jump in and want to play Spectre, Anti Mage, Faceless Void...etc all because they want to be the cool guy on the team and rack up kills. They play a game, their CS is about 25 at the 20:00 min mark, they can't get any items and are useless all game...after about a week they quit playing Dota because it is not fun.

If you play someone like Lich or Tidehunter, you can be 0/5 with 17 last hits at the 20:00 min mark and all it takes is your ultimate being well timed and you can turn a battle in your favor. You are always relevant for your team and can make a difference without items. You will have more fun, gain a better understanding of the game, and will grasp concepts about the game quicker (such as lane balance, team composition, meta strats, item builds...etc). All because you are not stressing about last hits and getting yelled at by your team for being a Faceless Void with a Mask of Madness only at the 30 min mark.