Dota 2 New Player’s Tips

Dota 2 New Player’s Tips by VirulentWalrus

Prefacing this by saying I’m not great (4k) and do stupid shit all the time, but there are some things that should just never be done.

I’ve been trying to help a couple of really low MMR friends for a while now (they range from 1k to 3.3ish).

1. Stop flaming before the game even starts. Okay sure, your team has like 3 carries, who gives a shit? More than likely the enemy team does too. If you don’t feed, guess what? You win.
2. Don’t have a courier at 5 minutes? Mad you can’t get your bottle? Balls up and fucking buy it. I realize that the overwhelming majority of support players that support out of necessity are pissy the whole match – mute them and buy your own upgraded courier and some wards.
3. Don’t jungle from level 1. Of course there are heroes that are exceptions to this rule. But don’t first pick juggernaut and waste your potential by getting lower farm and experience than you would in lane.
4. Takes me to my next point. If you are playing a “jungler” (Axe, Chen etc.) don’t farm all game and build a midas and pout “omg team nob.” Chances are you are losing because YOU put your team behind by being useless in the jungle for 20 minutes.
5. Farm. Seriously what the fuck. Don’t stop hitting creeps. Stop doing the mexican stand offs in mid. This happens literally every game of 1-2k I spectate around the 20 minute mark. Buy yourself a TP and push out a wave, clear the jungle, and then push out the next wave (assuming you are near the jungle). Even if you aren’t; you are creating space for your team and making money. You can TP mid before the fight starts or while it is happening.
6. If you don’t know how to build a hero, use the in game guides. There are in game guides accessible in the top left of the screen. A lot of them are “wrong” but are better than just guessing.
7. Baby your team. Treat them like newborns (at least I do – and it’s effective). Of course this is hard to to a lot of the time because your team won’t speak English, but you can still use the chat wheel. Don’t be an ass and spam >Well Played, but DO say it something when someone makes a good play or even something simple like your mid first blooding the enemy mid. Thanks! the support for buying and placing wards. Suggest (don’t tell – people get “upset”) people buy certain items (ie don’t say “fuck nob PA no bkb).
8. Don’t give up. Yes, your support is 1-14. Your offlaner might be level 7 at 25 minutes. But even pro teams throw cough Clown 9 and EG. Game isn’t over until the ancient is dead.
9. Don’t die trying to save teammates. If they spam ping you like they are having some sort of seizure, that is their problem, not yours.
10. Stop overextending for kills in lane. Most of the time you will die too. The only time its really worth it to die 1v1 in dota for a kill is

a) you are less farmed than they are and they are more important for their team than you are for yours

b) your aegis will expire soon

c) first blood (it’d debatable, but I will often trade a death to the enemy mid if I can get firstblood out of it).

d) You are a support that doesn’t have huge teamfight potential and you can solo kill and enemy core (somehow).

e) undoubtedly some other reason I have forgotten

And 9 more.

1. Use your ult! Turns out these bad boys are pretty fucking good. Seriously. There is no reason Ravage should be on cooldown for a very long time until the ultra late game. Solo hero blackholes, ravages, etc. are great at getting your team ahead and tilting the enemy.
2. Use your items. This really comes from practice, but holy shit. It happens at every skill level (yes, I’ve done it all the time, but not as much anymore – I’ve made myself a mental note). Mek, Scythe, Shiva, Blink, Forcestaff, Necronomicon, you buy them for the active! Use them!
3. Use your spells. Happens a lot more at lower brackets. They don’t seem to understand spell usage. If you are going to die, throw your spells out, if a teamfight is happening, throw your spells out (seriously, the number of times I’ve seen teamfights happen without people throwing out their CC is ridiculous).
4. Prioritize your target! Yes, their WISP is in fact important. You can two shot him! My friends and I call him “floating midas” for a reason. Not only is he easy to kill, but he is incredibly important to the success of the enemy teams carry(ies).
5. Stay positive. PPDs MMR went up when he came a nice guy for a reason. Being a dick tilts people, period.
6. Save for buyback. Holy shit BB is so good, save for it. Remember you will need more gold than it tells you, so have some extra.
7. Mute assholes. It’s not worth it to argue.
8. If you are tilted, stop playing. It happens to me all the time. If I take a short 2-3 day DotA break I often find I come back playing better anyway.
9. MMR is accurate, but not pin point accurate. No one cares if you are 200 MMR higher than everyone else, chances are you are just as bad or worse. Stop being a penis.