Basic Dota Tips

[ShinraCorp]

Hello, I just wanted to give some basic tips for our dota community.
I'm sure most of the players that check this part of sections are already aware but this could be just a small reminder for them.
I will list just 3 basic THINGS you can do to improve the quality+gameplay since i'd like to keep them simple.

First: Keep a Teleport Scroll with you all the time (keep 2x in inventory just so you dont have to run around)
Explanation:

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 You can save your teammate/yourself by tping in to lane that your teammate is either about to die and you can make the save, or you can also use tp to escape from danger. In the public games this is quite common where more than half of the player do not carry a tp scroll and starting by carrying a tp scroll can really make big impact.

Second: Watch minimap every few seconds
Explanation:

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 It is hard to see minimap often while you are in lane/csing/fighting however it is crucial to look at minimap time to time. Few instance where you should really try to take a look at minimap is when you see someone missing from lanes for more than few seconds, it is highly likely they went for either rune/gank. Now knowing that either your teammate/yourself could be in danger you can alert them/alert yourself and play more cautiously. This also will help with my first key point of carrying a tp, you can tp in to save your teammate when you see other team and this can lead to big level advantage + winning team fights. 

Last: Check item of opponents every few minutes
Explanation:

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 Check for ward, what item builds thier hero is going . If you know other hero has ward you can try to deward/ let your team know that they have ward. Taking look at what potential build other heroes are making could also help. In fights you may think that you killed the other team hero until he uses wand/bottle/armlet recast suddenly (experienced players bait others by making them think that they won but they have backup item what i've mentioned) . If you previously check items then you know that you have another thing to think about. This also helps for checking for possible basher/euls/dagger/sheep etc that will make you aware of what other heroes can do/cast/move/disable  which makes differences in fights. If you see other player with guinsoo you'd probably try to aim that hero unless they have big aoe/strong hero that you must kill.

English isn't my first language but I'm sure no one will have hard time understanding the message. I tried to keep them simple, and listed few basic things that player can fix/remind to improve their gameplay. There are many more things tactic,gameplay,counters,builds that i didnt cover but just starting with things I've mentioned above can really help the game.
Goodluck to all hopefully this was somewhat helpful for few.

[1B_Fantom]

This is a nice start Rain. While it seems obvious to a lot of us veterans, it will be helpful for countless players I think. Any chance this will be a continuing series? I know you have a lot of knowledge to impart

[Sylvanas]

0/10, dagon 5 isn't even mentioned anywhere

[Zeratul]

0/10, dagon 5 isn't even mentioned anywhere

^ dat, and

4th -> If you can't play and/or are scared of dying, pick syllabear and farm radiance ----> Afterwards place syllabear at the fountain (hiding it behind trees, you never know if people are gonna target you at the fountain), and just use the bear

But yes, all stuff mentioned by soju are actually correct, specially the TP note alongside the minimap: Being able to predict ganks & tp'ing to help/save/counter-gank is by far more important than most ppl can imagine

[BeerLord]

"Being able to predict ganks & tp'ing to help/save/counter-gank is by far more important than most ppl can imagine"

I love that. I will never be able to predict ganks, sorry, after 8 zillion games im just not going to get better... But of late ive been tping to help/counter gank and have found it very helpful.

[EdgeOfChaos]

Play a ganker hero (example: bara, leshrac, tiny) over and over, do lots of ganking. You'll notice patterns in who you can and can't successfully gank, and when. Once you start noticing this, you'll be able to feel when you or your allies are in danger.

My biggest tips that have definitely made me improve and have more fun:
- If you can't counter a hero, almost all of the time it's because you don't understand it. Play it a few times and get a feel for it, then you will understand how to beat it.
- The picking phase of the game is vital and most people don't treat it as such. If you can watch for game ending heroes like PL, Geomancer, Slark, and counter them, you contribute a lot more than most to the team. For me, any of those 3 makes Leshrac an instant pick. One of the reasons why Geomancer is such a strong pub smashing pick, is because hardly anyone even does a good counter pick, and he's one of those heroes who MUST be countered.
- The most important thing for a team to have is disabler heroes. There are good disabler heroes for all types of play: carry (void, VS) tank (pudge, axe, cent, etc.), support (cm, lina, lesh), initiation (es, tiny).
- The top reason why I see players with awful accounts (for example, the 500 and 600 ELOs) is because they have no sense of what is going on in the game. They will happily sit there and farm while they get ganked, or jungle while their team is trying to rosh, etc.. Listen to other players and look at where they are.
- Try to deny when on the lane. You don't even have to be good at it to make a difference. Denying puts extra stress on the enemy trying to get lasthits, and makes them more likely to make mistakes while lasthitting. Harass heroes like Huskar can do the same thing.

[Letbell]

My tip here for all newbies out there:
Go play Dota Ai maps before join a pub games. If this was dota 2, you'll probably have better experiences.
However, if you're playing dota 2 pub/rank, you'll probably get reported and ban for like 2-3 days which kinda suck.

I've experienced before hand when playing lion support in 4k elo before, and if you don't do your job properly; the only things that awaits you is 2-3 days suspension (aka bans) from playing dota.

PS: people in dota 2 takes game seriously.

[Dhamma]

It's a good post.

But for most people on ENT, something more basic is needed.

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  IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE MINIMAP.

What is a Minimap, Where is it located, and What is it for.

[Now2]

Couple more tips for everyone
There are so many heros that are better then you may think--
1. abbas shield removes literally everything including legions duel!
2. There are many moves that remove dust for all you lothars lovers. pact on slark and legions heal will do this-- just make sure u use after they dust then Lothar. for any other hero -- lets say sniper vs bara and u went Lothar-- get a manta and more then likely bara will dust you early. manta then Lothar always
3. When playing Arc warden. once you are level 6 always carry a healing salve and clarity-then you can heal and mana up every time you ult.
Like said earlier- every hero has a counter but items are very important.
learn to use dagger on as many heros as you can--- seeing Lothar legions are painful to watch, way too easy to counter and not as effective.
Last thing- when playing CM- max aura go drop ice block on any creep all the time including wood creep- its will die you will farm faster, your team will farm faster and effectively this will slow down your enemies too
Cheers all, dota is addictive as F!

[EdgeOfChaos]

1. abbas shield removes literally everything including legions duel!

oO really? I thought it removes the silence but still forces you into combat.

But I'm pretty sure it doesn't remove doom tbh.

I see lothars LC get a lot of hate but i'm actually gonna say it's not bad.
as you said, his buff removes dust.
Dagger costs almost as much and gives nothing but mobility/positioning, lothars also gives low-medium attack+AS
And this is coming from someone who buys dagger as a Huskar and Leshrac core item. it's not that i don't like or can't use it.
Gem can always be taken away from them. And you can always catch stragglers.
I don't play LC much in general because of how vulnerable he is to being disabled and burst down (don't like that feeling) but when I do, I usually build loth and then some HP shit, or desolator first sometimes.

[Sylvanas]

I'm pretty sure duel can only be ended prematurely by separating the 2 dueling units by a large distance. Relocate and scepter supernova on either hero are the only realistic things that come to my mind. There's no way you can just dispel it like a random debuff.

loth lc works, just like you can get almost any item that's not completely senseless on any hero and make it work, but dagger is better and should be used instead. If you get dusted, you can dispel it with press the attack sure, but it's not like you're going to take anyone by surprise by dueling off that invis.

Desolator isn't too good either, since it gives a lot of flat damage and lc gets a lot of that quickly on his own, for obvious reasons. It's a relic of back when duel disabled most passives and armor corruption being one of the few exceptions, back then. It's the same reason 90% of people still insist on always making vlad's on ursa even though swipes aren't an orb since years and he can get hotd/satanic.

[BeerLord]

Great thread guys, please keep it up. Getting hand cramps from all of the furious note taking.

[WolfPackMama]

Ward locations.

Many times, even when a pub is good enough to ward up, they do so in very, very predictable fashion. It's always that one cliff at bottom rune, and that one cliff near creep camp on top rune. It's very easy to deward and counter. There's so many spots that you can exploit advantage of - you should never ward the same spot twice in a row; always adjust the ward based on how the game goes (Bottom rune example: ward on the cliff behind a tree to get vision on a part of Sentinel jungle if you're being pushed in; ward the highest cliff near Roshan to get vision on ancient creep camp if you need to gank the farming carry; ward the cliff towards middle lane if you want vision control against enemy's mid hero).

[EdgeOfChaos]

And likewise, countering enemy wards can be tough. But here are some tips to do it.

1) Slark's passive part of his ulti is only on when he is not in vision of the enemies. If it goes off in a place you didn't expect it to, it's a good sign that you are either being stalked by an invis hero or just found a ward. Usually if you know the perimeter of the ward, you can find the ward itself.

2) If you want to support hard, buy the wards first thing of the game and plant them before the game starts. Not only does it help you secure those bounty runes that people so happily die for, but if the enemies ward after you, you know exactly where they are.

3) check the inventory of the enemy mid. If he has wards, heads top, and then only has 1 ward.. you know pretty much where he put it.

4) Templar Assassin's traps can function as tiny wards.

5) for any roshan soloer: smoke in from base.
You rarely see any Smoke of Deceit bought in pub games. And while I'm not gonna tell you to buy it to gank (they can't use it), if you JUST smoke on yourself and then run into rosh, no one can see you unless they ALSO sentried it. I *always* do this on Meepo and Ursa. Furthermore when you do this, DO NOT take the rune by rosh. It gives away to anyone observant that you're roshing.

In general the most important parts of the map to have vision/control of are:
- Both rivers
- Both jungles
- Both secret shops
- Enemy base, after rax tower is killed
You can't do all these with wards obviously. But there are other ways to get vision and control.

[Dhamma]

When playing Arc warden. once you are level 6 always carry a healing salve and clarity-then you can heal and mana up every time you ult.

Yea, my items on him are 3 clarity 1 health pot, magic stick and chicken. The magic stick is very important on him, as well. The clone can use it and give you enough mana to cast some traps, or book when otherwise it would have been a waste of an ult. And re-using the potions is truly OP. If you use them 10 times before selling them, you just got 1500 gold worth of healing for just 75. Small wonder they removed it from dota 2

5) for any roshan soloer: smoke in from base.
You rarely see any Smoke of Deceit bought in pub games. And while I'm not gonna tell you to buy it to gank (they can't use it), if you JUST smoke on yourself and then run into rosh, no one can see you unless they ALSO sentried it.

I do this all the time on heroes without blink. But maybe 1/5th of the time some pub usually stumbles in anyway. Despite trying to explain what's going on.

And actually

6.79 - Disguise Now turns affected units immune to True Sight.

So unless there is a bug with the map, they shouldn't see with sentry. In theory

PA's blur comes with smoke built in. It works roughly the same way. She can't be seen on minimap unless there's an enemy hero within a certain distance. And if there's a hero within that range visible or not, she turns solid. Feel free to dust and watch them cry MH.