DotA:Learn The Game

Todays Tricks

Today we will learn about Basic Survival.

A lot of newer players tend to go right for items like Boots of Speed or Gloves of Haste in the beginning of the game, and tend to ignore cheap ways of increasing your survivability dramatically; some even give you an offensive edge!

• Regeneration
  
  Ancient Tango of Essifation: Tangoes provide uninterrupted healing so you can get right back to the middle of the action.
  Healing Salve: Interrupted upon receiving damage, stay back after using. Salves heal about 1/2 to 3/4 of your life early on.
  Clarity Potion: Interrupted upon receiving damage, stay back after using. Allows you to cast more spells.
  Bottle: Heals HP and mana. Empty bottles automatically refill when you return to your fountain, making them useful all game. They can also store runes. For more information about rune powerups, visit here.
  Magic Stick: Accumulates heal/mana on standby, this item is great against opponents who use spells frequently.

• Statistic-Increasing
  
  Gauntlets of Giant Strength / Slippers of Agility / Mantle of Intelligence: These items give you very minor +3 bonuses to a specific attribute
  Circlet of Nobility: +2 Rounded attribute bonuses usually if you intend to make Bracers, Wraith Bands and Null Talismans
• Ironwood Branch: +1 to stats, Cheap and effective, these fill out slot spaces nicely
• Creeps and Towers
  
  Creeps
  While you can easily kill one on its own, their strength lies in their numbers. A common mistake many players make is to engage multiple creeps by themselves. Stay behind the safety of your own creeps so that you can fight them at your leisure. Creeps spawn every 30 seconds.
  
  Towers
  The primary defensive measure for both teams, standing in the safety of your tower is a strong incentive for enemies to back off. Towers deal a sizable portion of your hit points in damage, making them powerful unless there are other targets already in their attack range. Try to figure out how far this distance is so that you do not take unnecessary damage.
  
  Both creeps and towers will change their targets to attack you if you have chosen to attack an enemy hero in the vicinity. This can be seen clearly in our first example.
  • Direct Damage
    These spells often deal lots of damage quickly to an opponent, great for harassing and/or finishing them off. Try to be careful of these spells by keeping your current HP relatively high.
    Examples: Laser (Tinker) and Culling Blade (Axe)
  • Area of Effect
    Affect only the area specified by your opponent. These spells can sometimes be avoided if you can be unpredictable as to confuse your opponents or keep your distance so that the spells do not reach you.
    Examples: Sonic Wave (Queen of Pain) and Macropyre (Twin-Headed Dragon)
  • Damage Over Time
    Rather than instant damage, these abilities do their damage in segments but can come with extra effects, such as slow. While this will prevent Healing Salve and Bottle from healing you, regeneration items and specific abilities or items such as Mekansm can still be used.
    Examples: Venomous Gale (Venomancer) and Ignite (Ogre Magi)
  • Disable/Stun
    These spells stun you or prevent you from responding in some way - movement, attacking, casting spells, or sometimes in combination. Generally you have to watch your distance or have an ally to assist you in case this happens.
    Examples: Shackle (Shadow Shaman) and Fiend's Grip (Bane Elemental)
  • Buff/Debuff
    These spells either make you or your allies stronger or opponents weaker in some way such as increasing damage, armor, prevention of status effects.
    Examples: Repel (Omniknight) and Frost Armor (Lich)