Dota Basics: What many players lack. What you should keep in mind.

Here are a few points that will make you a better player and teammate while resulting in a more enjoyable game overall.

As for credentials, tier 1-2 player in the scene.

1. Creeps. Killing creeps is the most important thing to do in dota. Support or core, if there’s a chance for you to last hit creeps, you should have a very high accuracy on last hitting. this is the single most important skill in dota. The better you farm, the earlier you hit your timings. You survive ganks, you kill heroes, simply by having more items than usual.

That is not to say that you should farm all game. It is only when given the chance, you ought to be able to utilize it fully.

2. Itemization. Don’t be afraid to experiment. 95% of players from my experience, will report others for perfectly valid builds if they are out of the “agreed norm”. The most fun thing you can do is figure out a unique item progression on a certain hero that works for you. If you’re facing a mobile hero that is killing you while being uncatchable (think storm), buy a hex. IF you’re against alot of stuns, buy BKB. IF you’re against high cooldown instant death wombocombos, buy Aeon disk. If you’re against a slark/ursa/troll, buy a heavens halberd or pike. these are general example that could apply in certain games. The gist of it is being flexible with itemization will make a huge difference. A cookie cutter build sometimes is gamelosing.

3. Don’t take random fights. Don’t fight unless you have the upperhand(you got vision, highground advantage, item/hero advantage). Don’t fight enemies unless you have a plan in mind on what to do after the fight ( think killing towers, going roshan).

4. lategame map movement. As a clueless player, the easiest way to play the game is stay with your allies, but try your best not to reveal yourself, stay in the trees, stay hidden out of range, do your best to trick the enemies into thinking your allies are alone. That makes easy counter initiates. The most important thing in lategame is not to show on the map.

5. vision. I don’t expect much from you in this regard, but gem is priceless when it comes to killing enemy wards. You will only truly understand vision after playing for a while, and when that happens you’ll understand how important it is and how to go about it. i could write a seperate guide for it.

If you have any questions or require help in gaining mmr. tell me your situation and i can give you pointers. I wrote this as a general guide with heralds-archon level players in mind.