With a little over half a million daily players, Dota 2 is one of Steam’s most popular multiplayer games. It is easy to pick up but hard to master.
You’ll understand the basic mechanics and a few tricks when you finish this guide. Let’s dive in and learn how to get started in Dota 2 in 2024!
The Objective of Dota 2
The game has two teams, the Radiant and the Dire, and each team consists of five Heroes. Overall, the game’s objective is to destroy the enemy’s Ancient, a large structure in the center of each team’s base. You’ll have to wither away the enemy’s defenses called Towers and Barracks. That way, you can reach the Ancient.
The Map
The default game modes consist of a single map with a river splitting through the center. The southern side, full of vegetation, belongs to the Radiant team. The northern, barren side belongs to the Dire.
Each territory is connected via three distinct paths—the Safe Lane, the Mid Lane, and the Off Lane. Each Lane has Towers in it—destroy Towers consecutively to reach the Barracks and the Ancient. But there’s a catch; Towers provide passive bonuses to allies and attack enemies. So, the deeper you push into enemy territory, the more powerful the Towers!
The areas surrounding the Lanes are collectively known as the Jungle. The map is covered with a fog of war, which allies, allied units, structures, and support items help provide a line of sight through.
Lastly, you need to clear at least one Lane to attack the Towers guarding the Ancient and destroy it. You do not need to clear all Lanes to destroy the Ancient. However, doing so will make offensive play much more manageable.
The Creeps
At regular intervals, the game will spawn NPCs called Creeps. These Creeps will spawn in each Lane and push toward the enemy Ancient, attacking whatever obstacle is in their path. Kill them for gold and XP and to pave the way for your Creeps.
After the one-minute mark, the game will spawn Jungle Creeps or Neutral Creeps, in camps around the Jungle. Jungle Creeps come in many varieties; each provides different amounts of gold and XP and has its own arsenal.
The most potent Jungle/Neutral Creep in the game is Roshan. He has high HP and high damage. Killing Roshan will not only net you a large amount of resources, but he’ll drop a temporary item called Aegis of the Immortal.
If you have the Aegis in your inventory and die, it will resurrect you with full stats. Roshan can spawn in one of two map corners and grows stronger as time passes.
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Dota 2 Lanes Explained
Each team has its own Safe, Mid, and Off Lane, each designed to provide different opportunities. How you tackle the Lane depends on your team’s coordination, priorities, and opponents.
- The Safe Lane – Otherwise known as the Short Lane or Easy Lane. It is the Lane where the Tier 1 Tower (Tier 1 being the first Tower you must destroy to push further) is the farthest from your Ancient. This means Creeps are more likely to clash under your Tower. In the early stage (known as the Laning Phase), retreating and playing defensively will be straightforward, hence the name. You’re also close to your part of the Jungle, allowing you to ambush enemies more effectively.
- The Mid Lane – In the middle of the map, the Mid Lane allows the quickest access to the enemy Ancient, thus making it a priority in most games. Dominating the Mid Lane means you’ll have a much easier time dealing with the enemy Off Lane and Safe Lane. Because of its priority status, typically, the strongest Hero in the team covers the Mid Lane.
- The Off Lane – Otherwise known as the Hard Lane, due to the composition of the Lane, your Creeps are more likely to clash under the enemy Tower. Being close to the enemy Jungle makes you more likely to get ambushed. It’s the opposite of the Safe Lane.
Focusing on the Safe Lane is a good idea for inexperienced players. Different Heroes are better suited for different Lanes.
The Basic Hero Types
Dota 2 has a plethora of Heroes, each with unique stats, active and passive abilities, and ranged or melee attacks. Additionally, Heroes can cover several roles, and we’ll briefly explain the two most general roles in Dota 2.
- Support – Whether through map control, healing, providing mana, or preparing enemies for the finishing blow. Most Supports can be defined as a glass cannon. Their spells deal a lot of damage and cripple the enemy, but their fragile nature makes direct combat difficult. Typically, Support Heroes are not very item-dependent and prioritize items that aid during team fights.
- Carry – These Heroes “carry” the team to victory. Carry Heroes rely heavily on items to complement their abilities and eliminate vulnerabilities. A Carry who has managed to secure good items and adequate levels quickly can easily dominate the game. Therefore, Carry Heroes are a priority target.
Each Hero has a difficulty level determined by the amount of coordination and familiarity required.
For new players, it is highly recommended that they focus on low-difficulty Heroes when getting started in Dota 2, as they are more forgiving. Some Heroes break the general Carry/Support rule.
Hero Mechanics in Dota 2
To start, Dota 2 has an RPG-style character system. If you select a Hero within the “Heroes” section of the Dota 2 menu, you’ll see a complete rundown and the chance to practice with that Hero.
Stats include regeneration rate, movement speed, attack speed, armor, vision range, and turn speed.
Your Hero’s stats are based on items and 3 Attributes.
- Strength – Strength determines your Hero’s HP and HP regeneration rate. Heroes that focus on initiating fights rely heavily on this Attribute.
- Agility – Agility determines your Hero’s attack speed and armor. Armor reduces Physical Damage. A damage type most commonly delivered by default (right click) attacks. Carry Heroes typically rely heavily on this Attribute, allowing them to dish out large amounts of damage quickly.
- Intelligence – Intelligence determines your Hero’s mana pool, mana regeneration, and Magic Resistance. Magic Resistance negates Magical Damage, a common spell damage type. Support Heroes, and Heroes that need to spam their spells need high Intelligence to be effective.
Each Hero has a Primary Attribute. For every point gained in their Primary Attribute, they increase their damage by 1 point.
Furthermore, there are some Heroes that are part of the Universal category. Universal Heroes do not have a Primary Attribute. For every 1 point of Attribute increase, they gain an extra 0.7 damage. Universal Heroes are suitable for filling gaps in your team’s composition by allowing them to be more flexible with their builds.
Experience and Gold
Heroes gain XP and gold mainly through killing enemies. With XP, your Hero will level up, increase their overall stats, and gain skill points. These skill points are used to unlock and upgrade abilities and access passive bonuses. Finally, when your Hero reaches level 6, they’ll be able to unlock their ultimate ability.
Regarding gold and experience, here are a few things you need to remember:
- When killing enemies, experience is shared with all allies within a certain radius.
- Only the Hero who delivers the killing blow to a Creep will get the gold. This is called Last Hit. Carefully time your attacks when Creeps are brawling with each other.
- Assisting in kills nets you a bit of gold.
- When allied Heroes and Creeps are at low health, you can attack them and kill them. This is called Denying. Denying a Creep will result in enemy Heroes getting no gold and only 50% of that Creep’s kill XP. Denying an allied Hero will result in the enemy getting no gold or XP. This strategy is most useful against Carries.
- There are two types of gold in Dota 2. Reliable gold and unreliable gold. Reliable gold is gained passively and via bounty runes. Unreliable gold is achieved through any other activities. You primarily spend your unreliable gold on purchases. It’s the type you lose whenever you get killed.
Items in Dota 2
Most items are purchased in your base’s Shop and are delivered to you by a creature known as a Courier. Basic items, like Branch and Mango, mainly give a minor stat increase or allow you to recuperate faster.
Complex items (Upgrades) provide more powerful stat bonuses and new active or passive abilities. Here’s an example. The item Shadow Blade not only increases your combat potential but also gives you the ability to go invisible, allowing you to instigate ambushes or escape from a tough situation.
You should know that advanced items are more expensive because they require components (other items) and recipes. For example, to create Shadow Blade, you will need to purchase Shadow Amulet, Blitz Knuckles, and Broadsword.
The most powerful basic items are only found within the Secret Shop. The Radiant and the Dire each have their own Secret Shop. You can only buy items from the Secret Shop if you or your Courier are physically there.
Furthermore, Neutral Creeps have a chance to drop a Token. Redeem Tokens for Neutral items. You have a dedicated inventory slot for a Neutral item. As the match goes on, higher-level Tokens will spawn from killing Neutral Creeps.
Dota 2 Tips and Tricks
- Finish the tutorials first. Once you’re done, stretch your legs in the beginner mode or try out Heroes in demo mode. Here’s a general strategy for new players.
- Stick to the Safe Lane. In the early stage of the game, the Safe Lane is going to allow you to play very defensively and force the enemy team to take risks and be watchful. Play under the Tower or behind the Creep wave.
Choosing the Right Hero for Beginners in Dota 2
Pick a low-difficulty Support hero. Leave the Carry role to the other players. Good Support Heroes for beginners are:
- Witch Doctor – Witch Doctor is the embodiment of a Support Hero. His skills are simple and effective, he discourages groups of enemies from taking risks, needs few items, heals allies and is useful from start to finish.
- Lion – Lion’s arsenal is all about disabling enemy Heroes, and his ultimate is one of the most powerful spells in the game. He’s very straightforward and mainly just needs Blink Dagger for mobility.
- Skywrath Mage – Skywrath focuses on spamming his spells to obliterate the enemy. Though squishy, his simple but powerful spell list makes him a constant threat, and he requires only a few items.
- Lich – Lich has a versatile arsenal, with a damaging spell, a defensive spell, a disabling spell, and an ultimate that is amazing in a team fight.
- Vengeful Spirit – Her skillset is simple but effective, based on providing kills for the Carries and general utility.
Additional Dota 2 Tips
- Use wards to monitor the battlefield. Wards are invisible to the enemy. Observer wards give a limited vision over an area for a limited period of time. Useful for ambushing and avoiding ambushes. Sentry wards reveal hidden elements, like enemy wards and invisible foes. Plant wards in enemy camps to prevent Jungle Creeps from spawning, reducing their XP and gold potential.
- Always chip away enemy HP. This strategy is called Harassment. You’re applying pressure, making forward progress tricky, and softening them up for a potential kill.
- You rarely have direct control over Creeps. However, if you want Creeps to fight on your side of the map, stand in front of the wave to hinder their movement. This is called Creep Blocking. Blocking Creeps makes it more likely for a battle to happen in your territory.
- The game spawns power-ups called Runes in the river. These can make you invisible, create illusions, regenerate lost health and mana, or temporarily increase your damage. Always be on the lookout for them. Each team also has locations that spawn Bounty Runes, which gives the team gold, and Wisdom Runes, which gives XP to the person who acquired it and the lowest-level player in the team.
- Destroy structures near your base called Tormentors. Tormentors provide a random team member with an Aghanim’s Shard, upgrading one of their abilities or providing a new one. Once all team members have a Shard, Tormentors will give XP and gold instead. They fight back and regenerate, so it’s best to take them down with team members.
Well, that is the quick and simple on how to get started in Dota 2. Join us next time as we discuss more complex strategies and lineups.
The Guide Hall explores a variety of game genres and titles, including Dota 2, to bring you in-depth guides such as this one. We’ll have more from the frantic world of Dota soon!