3/23/2014 DotA Basics

http://www.unc.edu/~thikket/basics.html 1/4
Backtomain.
TheVeryBasicsofDotA
Contents
*WhatisDotA?
*Sentinelvs.Scourge
*YourHero
*TheMinimap
*Items
*Objectives
WhatisDotA?
DotA(DefenseoftheAncients)isan"AoS"stylemodifiedmapcreatedforWarcraftIII:theFrozen
Throne.ItismodelledoffofthemodifiedmapforStarcraft:BroodwarofthenameAeonofStrife
(AoS),wheretwoarmiesledbypowerfulunitsclashagainsteachother.
InDefenseoftheAncients,twoarmies(theSentinelandtheScourge,AIcontrolled)fightagainst
eachother,ledbyhero(playercontrolled)units.
ItisstronglysuggestedthatyouplayagainstthecomputeronaspeciallycreatedAImapbefore
playingonBattle.net.Checkthelinkonthemainpagetodotaportal.comtodownloadanAImap.
Visitwww.getdota.comtodownloadthelatestDotAmapforyourWarcraftIIIgame.
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Sentinelvs.Scourge
TheSentinelfightstodefendtheTreeofAncients.TheScourgefightstodefendtheFrozenThrone.
Yourarmiesarecomprisedofthreeunits:melee,ranged,andsiege.OntheSentinelside,theunits
areTreants,DruidsoftheTalons,andGlaiveThrowers.OntheScourgeside,theunitsareGhouls,
Necromancers,andMeatWagons.Whileweakearlyon,theseunitsgrowovertimetobecomemore
powerful.
Tofindouthowpowerfulyour"creep"(armyunits)areatanypointintimeduringthegame,usethe
followingformulae:
MELEE:HP:550+10xDamage:1923+x(normal)Armor:2
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RANGED:HP:300+10xDamage:2126+2x(magic)Armor:0
Wherexisthenumberof"upgradeintervals"thathavepassed.Oneupgradeintervalhappensevery
7.5minutesofgametime.
Initially,everywaveofcreeps(onewavespawnsevery30seconds)contains3meleecreepsand1
rangedcreep.Everytwentyminutes,thenumberofmeleecreepsspawnedperwaveincreasesby1
toamaximumof3moremeleecreepsperwave.Everysixtyminutes,thenumberofrangedcreeps
spawnedperwaveincreasesby1toamaximumof1morerangedcreepperwave.
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YourHero
Atthebeginningofthegame,youhavetheoptiontochooseoneheroforthedurationofthegame.
Clickonatavernandhoveryourmouseoverthehero'spictureinordertoseeitsabilities.What
heroesareavailabletoyoudependsonthegamemodethehostselects.Oneexception:ina
deathmatch(dm)game,eachtimeyoudie,youwillobtainanewhero.
JustlikeinregularWarcraftIII,yourheroaccumulatesexperiencebyparticipatinginbattle.Heroes
inDotAhave25levels.Eachlevel,youmayaddonepointintotherankofoneoffiveabilities(3
normalabilites,oneultimateability,andtheAttributeBonusability).
ControllingYourHero
PlayDotAwithamousetheactionisveryfastpacedanditwillbeextremelydifficultifyouare
notequallyquickwithyourcursor.ClickonyourheroorpresstheF1keytocontrolhimorher.
Yourheroabilitieshavehotkeyslearnandusethesehotkeysduringbattletoactivateyourspells.
Usehotkeysratherthanclickingontheability'sicon:abattlecanswingtofavoronesidewithinless
than3secondsinDotA,soyouneedallthespeedyoucanmanage.Youmightconsiderassigning
yourherotoControlGroup1(selectyourhero,holddowntheCtrlkey,andpress"1").Itiseasierto
hit"1"than"F1"toaccessyourheroinmostsituations,sincethe"1"keyisclosertothetypical
DotAhotkeys.
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TheMinimap
Yousharevisionwithallalliedunits:yourarmyandyourplayerallies.Theminimapisacrucial
componenttoyourDotAgameplay.Ontheminimap,theSentinelareexpressedinred,theScourge
arethecolorgreen,andthe10playerseachhaveaseparatecolor.Pulldownthescoreboardinthe
upperrightcornertoseewhichplayercontrolswhichcolor.Learnwhichfivecolorsarealways
associatedwithSentinel(Blue,Teal,Orange,Yellow,Purple)andwhicharealwaysassociatedwith
Scourge(DarkGreen,LightBlue,Gray,Pink,Brown).
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Ifyouaccidentallytogglethecolors,holddown"Alt"andpresstheAkey.
InBattle.netparlance,thelanethatcomestoaturnintheupperleftcornerofthescreeniscalled
"top".Themiddlelaneiscalled"mid".Thelanethatcomestoacornerinthelowerrightis"bot".
TurnonyourCreepcampdisplay.Thesmallgreencirclesindicatecreepcampsofvarying
difficulties.ThelargeredcircledenotesthelocationofRoshan,thespecialAIboss.Roshanis
extremelydifficultandcannotbebeatenuntillateinthegame.
Useyourminimaptoalertyourteammateswhenyounoticetheopponentsattemptingtosurpriseone
ofyourallies:holddownAltandleftclickontheminimaptoissuea"ping"atthatlocation.When
you'rerunningfromanenemy,besuretopingyourselfasyourun,soyourteammatescanassist.
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Items
ThereareahugenumberofitemstopurchaseinDotA.Eachitemhasspecialeffectstoaidyouin
yourbattleagainsttheSentinelortheScourge.Thewebsitedotaportal,accessiblefromthelinkon
themainpage(loginandpasswordprovidedthere),hasacatalogueofalltheavailableitems.
Certainitemscanbecombinedwithotheritemstomake"higherlevel"items,sometimesemploying
a"recipescroll".Therecipescrollitselfdoesnothingyoumustfirstcompletetherequisiteitems
beforeyourhigherlevelitemisofuse.
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Objectives
Towinthegame,youmustdestroytheopponents'primarystructure:theTreeofLifeortheFrozen
Throne.Beforeyoucandamagethesestructures,youmusteliminateallthetowersinatleastone
lane.Destroyingtheenemy'sCryptorAncientofLoregivesyourarmyahugecombatboost.Killing
heroesisnotnecessaryforwinningthegame,butthebonusgoldandexperienceishelpful.
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