indiefinch

@Olu said:

Yeah, randoming invoker or Chen is like giving win ticket to the opposite team

Indeed, this is why random is bad until you get a grasp of most of the characters. I had a friend be in the "only random!" mindset and we played a string of games where he got Enchantress (couldn't jungle or control an creeps), then the next game he got Faceless Void (got 50 last hits all game again). Needless to say he got chewed out in each game by teammates then he finally said "yep you were right."

If you think that randoming is best for you, just play Single Draft. That way you are allowed at least 3 choices so you can avoid characters you have no chance at learning on the fly.

I love the art style they are going for, I just really want them to get this out ASAP. But I would rather then try to get the game super polished and balanced before trying to add more characters. Maybe after the game proves to be a very solid competitive game, then add some more characters and go from there.

@FluxWaveZ said:

@IndieFinch: Thanks for that, but what is the use of mapping all hatcheries to a same hotkey? I assume that it's for quick reinforcements, correct?

Just makes it easier to keep track of your larva. Since you are single binding queens that are near hatcheries, you can just jump to that queen and click the hatchery if you only want that one. But by having all hatcheries on same key you can click it, see you have 15 larva, then make units accordingly (just hold on D for a ton of drones or R if your trying to reinforce an attack...etc). Plus you can set up easy rally points. Say you set up a 3rd base, just right click the minerals there, make 30 drones...boom fully saturated base and they go their automatically. And then have one master rally point for all the hatcheries, so you wont lose track of units.

@FluxWaveZ said:

Could anyone share some hotkey tips?

For example, how do you Zerg players handle timely larvae injects? I've been hotkeying each Queen on a sepearte hotkey, pressing the key twice to jump to their location for the larvae injects, but is it simpler/faster/more efficient to bind them all to a single hotkey and use the mini-map for the injects? I also like having them all on separate keys because I'm not use to using the mini-map to jump from Hatchery to Hatchery, so I use the Queens themselves.

Edit: Shit, I just hit Platinum league and I still feel like I'm crap at this.

I generally keep all of my hatcheries on 4. Queen at main on 5, queen on natural on 6, queen at 3rd on 7..etc. Then I use 1,2,3 for army. Usually lings/roach on 1, banelings on 2, mutas on 3. Some people like other ways, but honestly it all comes down to personal preference and comfort. I started using this method early in the beta and at this point it is just second nature.

As far as general tips, I'll throw out some stuff that comes to mind. I have been a masters Zerg since the first season they brought in masters league.

Builds - learn a few basic ones and perfect them. Learn standard non-cheesy builds and try to get better. On maps you feel comfortable go hatch first with OL on 9, hatch on 15, spawning pool on 15 (can do variations of 15 hatch then 14 pool / 16 pool depending what you read on your opponent.) Hatch first is always your best choice in making you a better player, once you learn to recognize a early attack and crush it...you will always come out ahead. The second build I always recommend to new players is: OL on 9, 14 gas / 14 pool. Get 100 gas, pull 2 drones off gyser and research speed. Drop expansion at 21. This is the "safe build" in which you get ling speed out early for solid map control and can scout any early attacks / forward pylons. But since you drop that expansion down early enough you can transition into heavy droning very easily. It is better to have two builds like this that you master (build the hatch EXACTLY at 300 minerals...pool EXACTLY 200 minerals...etc) rather then having 10 builds in which you just sort of "wing it" and see what happens.

Scouting - people always say "scouting is hard" or "I am bad at it" but you don't need to make it super complicated. Send your first OL to be posititioned behind your enemy's base and just sacrifice it whenever you feel like you need to know (usually around 6-9 min to see what tech they go). But the biggest thing is just position a ling outside of their ramp. Every bit just run up and the ramp and see what buildings you can see. Example, if you are playing a terran and see 1 barracks but 2 factorys behind the wall...assume hellions or tanks, so get roaches out. Another thing is by keeping that ling their at all times you can easily produce mass drones then when they move out you can directly start producing units to defend.

Dont get weird - Just stick to what you know and play it safe and standard. A lot of new zergs I have coached always seem to want to do a crazy all in to end the game. I had one guy I coached for a bit who every game he wanted to baneling bust or go roaches and try to kill the enemy. Zerg doesn't work this way, there really are not many times where you can attack and just win. Take that early expansion, build a ton of drones...get just enough guys to defend, then after you defend his marine / tank push...make 15 drones. Lesser zergs think "I crushed his push...mass ling and attack!!" No, just calmly make more drones and start a 3rd expansion. Use counter attacks and ling run bys to be your "gimmick" type of things. But if you walk across the map and try to fight a terran at the terrans base...you probably will lose. Just build that economy up, crush his push, and the shoot to win the late game in which you are on 3 or 4+ bases and he is only on 2, that is when you will win.

Just take each game as a learning experience. If you win or lose, watch the replay. Look from your vision and see when you built drones and when you skipped drones. You will begin to see trends like "well I saw a factory so I was afraid and build roaches...then I lost the late game due to lack of drones. Ok I know next time I see a factory that quickly it is probably a hellion rush...I can make only 3 roaches to defend it and the rest of drones." Then the next game you are able to recognize, react accordingly, and win. Zerg is all about the "feeling" in which you will build up an internal clock for things such as timings, injects, droning...etc.

@Dizzyhippos said:

I really wish they would add more support heroes before they add more carries its stupid to have this many characters before magi. Also quick question how is everyone else counter picking destro?

One thing to note is you don't need to go by the labels next to the character. You can play a whole lot of heros are support just by purchasing the support items. Personally my favorite supports are not "supports" in the label, which are Venomancer, Windrunner, Anchient Apparation, and Jakerio. Just pick up a Mekanism by mid game on them and stay in the back of the fight getting off the slows / mekanism heal.

I assume "destro" is Outworld Destroyer, the best way I have found to counter him is to gank him a lot early game. He is very squishy early on and has a really short cast range. So if you get 1 good stun on him, it is a pretty easy kill because he really doesn't have a good escape. As far as pure heros and not strategy, Doombringer / Silencer would be solid picks against him. During team fights he usually has to get close to the action due to his short range and a well placed silence will make him useless long enough for your team to kill him. Then late game your best bet against him is to pick up a BKB and he wont be able to touch you. If your team lets him farm and no one bothers ganking him, his ult will just decimate your full team late game.

This is probably the best update of the beta thus far. It does feel like they are taking the big step forward in getting this game out there to the people who are non-hardcore dota fans. The matchmaking is a lot cleaner with you being able to select the game modes to search for. My favorite part is that Single Draft and Captains Mode are now in Matchmaking!! Good bye all pick...it was nice knowing you. Some interesting things on the matchmaking spot now is "Tutorial, Quests, Co Op vs AI." We can easily guess what the tutorial and Co Op vs AI are. But Quests seems very interesting. My guess is it will be challenge type of things like in Starcraft 2 where they gave you a small amount of units and wanted you to complete a task.

They added a lot of little stuff that I really like to. If you hit "Alt" it shows an arrow above your character. The day/night cycle now has a pretty wheel and has an easy to see icon. When you select your hero a little circle flashes so you can spot it easier.

Things should get a lot more crazy next week with the release of the beta within the beta. Once that happens, anything can happen it seems. Possibly even a mass beta key wave because they will need more people to support two separate clients.

@GlenTennis said:

You need to random. A lot.

Randoming will lead you to do two things.

A) You will learn all the characters and how to fight against them and

B) Find a character you really like who you might have never picked.

This game is in a Beta, so don't worry about losing a bunch. It's going to happen. Who knows stats might get reset anyway when the game goes public.

I think this is the worst possible thing to do. Maybe do this in bot games or make a private match with cheats on to level all the abilities and see what they do. But in a matchmaking game, you need to have a handful of heroes that are you "go to" heroes. At least until you get a decent understanding of how the game is played.

You should be starting off with characters who do not rely on items. These are heroes that can get minimal farm, minimal kills, but still be useful in the late game. Some I would recommend: Lich, Tidehunter, Vengeful Spirit, Venomancer, and Windrunner. DO NOT pick a carry like Anti-Mage or Ursa until you play at least 50+ games. In order to be a useful player on your team as a carry, you need to get the farm and you get that by getting a lot of last hits. Until you feel comfortable enough of getting at least the majority of the last hits in a lane, you should stay away from carrys. If you play a character like Lich, you can get minimal last hits and 0 kills...but mid game you can completely win your team a fight purely by casting your ult. Or Tidehunter, you can have only bracers, magic wand, and a TP scroll...but if you get your ultimate off and get some key stuns, your team will get the kills and you get the assists.

What I always suggest to new players is, find 2 or 3 heroes of each role you enjoy (test them in private match first) then play them a lot to get a feel of how it works. Examples: Supports: Lich, Vengeful Spirit, Crystal Maiden. Initiators: Tidehunter and Earthshaker. Ganker / Support: Venomancer and Windrunner (build support items like men to help your team). This way you get to a point where you feel comfortable and can play at a basic level. If you random every game, you will absolutely suck at the hero...your team will get mad at you...then you will quit playing. Plus by being comfortable with a handful of heroes, you can look at your current team comp and see "hey we need a banker mid...I will go Mirana to fill that role" or "we need someone to purchase wards, I will go Lich and fill that role."

One good thing to remember is...you suck at dota, you are absolutely terrible at dota. So before you enter a game, read guides on Playdota.com, watch videos by Purge on youtube.com/purgegamers, watch the top matches on the Dota 2 "Watch" Tab, and ask questions if you have them. Only once you do your research can you enter a pub game and perform at a competent level. The more you play games, the more you will learn about heroes / strategies. And it is one of the few games in which you can play 1000+ hours and still know very little, but it is damn worth the time because it is an amazing game.

It would be cool but it just would send us down a rabbit hole. Get a JRPG guy, then need a eSports guy, then need a sports guy...etc. they could try to give them more of a chance though, seems like some really solid games get written off quickly because they are considered a JRPG.

This whole thing seems like a non-issue. Blizzard isn't trying to acquire the trademark of Dota, they just don't want Valve to own it. Plus with them trying to make Blizzard Dota for the Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm expansion, they don't want Valve to come in and stop them from producing that map. This will probably just end with Valve keeping the game called Dota but not having full exclusive on it so Blizzard can roll out Blizzard Dota.

I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to shoot for the game to be "finished" by then. Seems like it would be a great way to blow the doors off Dota 2 and get everyone really excited. But on Valve time, we could still be a year off from release...you never know.

Either way, Seattle is a great venue for this. I just hope they get this game in open beta at least before then so more North Americans will get excited for Dota 2. Right now it still seems that the European scene is dominating Dota 2 with the Chinese scene staying on Dota 1.