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This is the place where I publish some personal information as well as interesting facts about science. I'll appreciate any suggestions and requests about what to publish (on PM please).
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Posted 04-30-2010 at 09:27 AM byMaya (Maya's Chronicles)
Updated 04-11-2011 at 06:08 PM byMaya
You are now going to take my SAT-format test, which, unlike the real SAT, measures your degree of proficiency in playing Azgalor the Pit Lord.
Azgalor is one of the most underrated heroes in DotA Allstars which is mostly due to the fact almost all players are using him incorrectly and there are a lot of "myths" about him that need busted.
Please answer the following questions without looking at strategic guides or something else. I won't test theory, just the basics of the hero's gameplay. Rely on your logic and intuition in each question. Detailed explanations will, of course, follow the questions. You can see them after each answer or record your answers onto an answer sheet and check it out later. You CAN also cheat and look at the answers ahead of time. No one will catch you and penaltize you. In fact, I will still be happy because you will most likely learn something. It's all up to you. (But you can't do that on the real SAT)
Now, take a deep breath and prepare
Directions: Choose the BEST answer for each question. Do not refer to any additional information.
1. Which of the following best describes the hero's role in the team?
(A) Pusher
(B) Supporter
(C) Semi-Carrier
(D) Ganker
(E) All of the above
Choice (E) is correct. Pit Lord can breeze through creeps with ease thanks to his Firestorm and Expulsion, which makes him an excellent pusher or defender and also makes him able to afford any item. With his high strength gain and base damage, combined with early high-tier damage items, he can also carry the team. Get him a Shiva/Guinsoo/Neconomicon with his high intelligence and durability and you have a decent support hero. And last, but not least, Dark Rift and Pit of Malice offer a great and unique opportunity to instantly gank with multiple allies at the same time without giving your enemies a chance to escape.
2. Which lane is best to start on with Azgalor?
(A) Long lane with a carrier
(B) Solo middle
(C) Short lane with a disabler
(D) Any lane
(E) Jungle
Choice (B) is correct. While many people, including the "pros" think otherwise, Pit Lord is actually a very poor babysitter. Being extremely item-dependent, he needs all the gold he can hog and that's what his early game focuses on. Thus, in choice (A) he will either steal creeps from the carrier or will waste his potential by doing nothing, because he doesn't even have skills to babysit (except saving his partner's ass with Pit of Malice). The middle lane, on the other hand, allows you safe Firestorm spam for lane control and early farm, rune control, and even gank opportunities. It is also the shortest lane, making it the easiest to use Crow to refill your Bottle for even greater Firestorm spam. Choice (C) is awkward. You will still compete with your partner for creep kills and unless the disable is 4 seconds long, it will not benefit your Firestorm enough to net a kill. Also a waste of experience, though it is significantly better than Choice (A). Choice (D) is incorrect, reasons stated already - the only suitable lane is solo middle. Choice (E) may act as a backup plan at best. Pit Lord is a good jungler with Firestorm and Crow/Bottle abuse, but the farm is much slower than in middle, no rune access, and some creeps are even immune to Firestorm, while most will not die from it, making the whole process even slowlier without proper creep stacking.
3. Pit Lord should never:
(A) Solo a lane
(B) Carry
(C) Babysit
(D) Gank alone
(E) Jungle
Choice (C) is correct. Like I mentioned in the previous question, Pit Lord is a horrible babysitter. All other choices are mandatory (A) or acceptable (B), (D), (E).
4. What should you get as starting items?
(A) Bottle
(B) Cheap stats + Regen
(C) Ring of Basilius + Regen
(D) Animal Courier
(E) Ring of Health or Void Stone
Choice (D) is correct. It unlocks the powerful Crow/Bottle abuse, which helps incredibly much early game. Choice (A) is acceptable only in case another team member buys the chicken and shares with you. Otherwise you will have to return to base to get items or refill the Bottle in case you can't access runes, which causes you to lose tons of gold and experience. Choice (B) is not recommended. Cheap stats and Regen will not help in the least like a Crow/Bottle will. Sobi Mask, Branches and Mana Potions are too puny to support Pit Lord's heavy need of mana to spam Firestorm. Choice (C) is awful, yet the most popular one. Ring of Basilius = 39 mana per minute. That's all you can benefit from and it's extremely insufficient. You don't need the armour because you can't suffer from physical harassment while soloing and spamming Firestorm and you don't need the 6 damage to last hit. Terrible item. Never get it on Pit Lord. Choice (E) is also very poor. No hero actually benefits from Ring of Health or Voidstone as a starting item.
5. Which of the following statements are true?
I. Pit Lord is an excellent babysitter.
II. Pit Lord dies easily to carriers.
III. Pit Lord should rush Boots of Travel for better map control and farming.
(A) None.
(B) II only.
(C) III only.
(D) I and III only.
(E) I, II and III.
Choice (A) is correct. Statement I is wrong - Pit Lord CANNOT babysit anyone. Eliminate choices (D) and (E). Statement II is also wrong - Azgalor makes an excellent counter to most carriers with his natural durability that can be further enhanced by a Heart and/or Blademail, which, combined with his AoE abilities (or a Necronomicon) can send even life-stealing carriers into oblivion (provided it's a 1v1 fight - otherwise he can just teleport away and push). Choice (B) is thus incorrect. Statement III is also wrong. Boots of Travel is indeed an excellent item, but it's not good for rushing. While you still have your towers you can safely use TP Scrolls with the same efficiency and meanwhile get your core items, instead of wasting 2700 gold and risk staying with no items during your weak mid game. So choice (C) is also wrong. Thus, choice (A) is the only correct answer.
6. Which of the following items should you get as Pit Lord?
(A) Power Treads
(B) Blademail
(C) Dagon
(D) Kelen's Dagger
(E) Perseverance
Choice (B) is correct. Blademail is usually a situational item for most heroes and is gotten against powerful, fragile carriers. Not in Pit Lord's case, when he can easily farm it and is further favoured by his bottomless health pool. Blademail can actually counter almost all nasty heroes, not only carriers. Heroes like Lich, Earthshaker, Goblin Techies, Sand King... the list goes on. Choice (A) is not good. The extra 10 stats can be good, but the attack speed is wasted. Boots of Travel also provide much greater benefits. Choice (C) is good in joke-level public games, but I've found Necronomicon far superior. Yes, you can have a 400-damage nuke and net a handful of kills early game, but you don't really need the gold from hero kills and it won't make up for Dagon's price. Kelen's Dagger (Choice (D)) is good on almost every hero, but Pit Lord's awkwardness prevent him from utilising the full potential of the item by blinking and casting his spells. Besides, his spells have insane casting range, making Kelen's even less necessary. Choice (E) is trash. Remember this simple rule: NEVER GET ANY RINGS ON PIT LORD. Ring of Regeneration, Ring of Health, Ring of Basilius, Arcane Ring, Soul Ring - no! None of them works good on Pit.
7. Amongst the following items, which is BAD on Pit Lord?
(A) Necronomicon
(B) Battle Fury
(C) Radiance
(D) Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse
(E) Assault Cuirass
Choice (B) is correct. First of all, Battle Fury involves a ring and you already know that every ring is bad on Pit Lord. Secondly, neither of the bonuses BF provides are good on Pit Lord. The cleaving attack is next to useless because you already have enough AoE power to annihilate every creep. A simple Voidstone would make up for the mana regeneration with Pit Lord's high intelligence, and that Voidstone can be later turned into a useful item like Guinsoo's. The damage bonus is extremely cost-inefficient and far inferior to Necronomicon or Radiance. And you should ask yourself what you need to kill with that bonus damage. And it's certainly not heroes. All other items are either highly recommended (A, C, D) or at least situational (E). Nobody says you need to get all of them in the same game.
8. When should one put skill points in Dark Rift?
(A) Levels 6, 11 and 16.
(B) Levels 6, 24 and 25.
(C) Levels 9, 11 and 16.
(D) Levels 9, 24 and 25.
(E) Levels 23, 24 and 25.
Choice (A) is correct. Despite Dark Rift's insane cooldown, it is invaluable as a team teleportation (can be game-breaking) or an escape mechanism/mega push. You don't want to delay non-channeling AoE Boots of Travel.
9. Which group of heroes makes Pit Lord's deadliest enemies?
(A) Netherdrake, Bounty Hunter, Venomancer
(B) Nerubian Assassin, Keeper of the Light, Anti-Mage
(C) Troll Warlord, Ursa Warrior, Faceless Void
(D) Demon Witch, Slayer, Doombringer
(E) Sand King, Enigma, Shadow Fiend
Choice (B) is correct. These heroes can quickly deplete your mana pool and eliminate you as a threat because without your powerful spells you are just meat. Magina is especially annoying with his Blink. Nerubian Assassin can give you nightmares early game, and Ezalor pushes nearly as good as you, which makes him a solid counter. And don't forget Mana Leak... Choice (A) is incorrect. You just pop up Blademail and watch them die, or pound them with your spells and Necronomicon because they are very fragile. You are also nearly ungankable with Dark Rift. Choice (C) is also incorrect if you add your Blademail. They will just die before they realise what has just happened. Only Void is annoying with his time stopping and blink. Choice (D) is wrong. They cannot nuke your enormous HP pool and they shouldn't focus on you. Well, in case they do that, you pop up Blademail and Necronomicon. Voilà! Choice (E) is also wrong because of your Expulsion preventing these dangerous ultimates from proceeding.
10. Which group of heroes makes Pit Lord's best allies?
(A) Netherdrake, Bounty Hunter, Venomancer
(B) Silencer, Rogue Knight, Dwarven Sniper
(C) Troll Warlord, Ursa Warrior, Faceless Void
(D) Shadow Priest, Omniknight, Lord of Avernus
(E) Sand King, Enigma, Shadow Fiend
Choice (E) is correct. These ultimates, combined with your Pit of Malice and AoE damage are apocalyptical. Other choices just don't combine so well as this one.
Your result:
Raw score: (Number of correct answers) - 0.25*(Number of incorrect answers). Answers left blank do not count towards the raw score.
Scaled score (200-800) - calculate your raw score and use the following table:
Posted 10-11-2009 at 06:16 AM byMaya (Maya's Chronicles)
Updated 10-11-2009 at 07:28 PM byMaya
He woke up. He'd had a bad dream - he was shot, and dying. Painfully. It had been very vivid, but he tried to ignore it. And eventually succeeded. He was lying on the grass, with a number of ants up his legs, and the sun setting in red flares. The field work was tiresome, indeed. "C'mon, Sandman", his friend John's voice came from behind, "it's 8 o'clock already". It was not a particularly exciting day for Sam. He'd worked all day, and would now go home, have a scanty dinner, go to his little room and try to get some more rest on his uncomfortable bed. But while headed home, clouds gathered rapidly overhead. "Rain", Sam thought spitefully. He hated working in the mud. But the clouds became denser. And denser. It was immensely hot, even for August, but he didn't pay attention to this, focused on his hurrying. And then it started. It bursted. It exploded. Rain and thunder were racing in the ether. Sam suddenly stopped. John was 50 metres ahead, and obviously terribly wet already. There was something strange. Sam didn't feel wet. He rushed his fingers through his hair - dry. Why wasn't he wet? He didn't know. He was slightly curious, though, but didn't afford to think further. Didn't look around. And stepped ahead, again heading home for his dinner and warped bed. After the first few steps his clothes were soaked with sticky fluid. He rubbed his face - the fluid was colourless, like water. But it was sticky. He barely removed his hand from his cheek. He was moving slowly, with a lot of effort. The rain was falling. He let out a swarm of curses towards the nearby factory, presumably blaming it for the strange rain. Then he got completely stuck to the ground. He was scared. But nothing more than that. Now he craved for his dinner and his gloomy room. A thunder echoed...
And then he woke up. "Sammy, the guy at table three is waiting", he heard. He grabbed the coffee, almost spilling it out, and served it to the gentleman at table three. "Why did I agree to take John's 6 hours", he asked himself. John was a friend of his. They have known each other since school, and now they were 25. John asked Sam to take his hours while he did some arrangements with the electricity company. Sam agreed, but serving drinks for 12 hours, barely having time to sit, in addition to the party last night was indeed tiresome. Which would explain him falling asleep on a chair by the closet. It was not a particularly exciting day for Sam, apart from a few smiles by a group of girls. Once Sam read the cliche "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away". He liked it. He considered the parties breathtaking, though he often had troubles remembering what exactly had happened. And tonight there was a party again - at block 44, near the cafe he worked in. With 5 minutes left, John showed up at the door. "Sam", he shouted, "let's go, the guys are waiting". At the same moment the bartender, Jimmy, shouted "Sam, where is the party tonight". At the same moment Sam looked at the TV, where they were interviewing Sam Collins, the coach of the local football team; a second later the sky was flashed with the name of Sam Milkins - the gentleman was running for mayor for the third time, but his success was again doubted. Sam, the waiter, merely noted the strange coinsidence, and in 5 seconds he was out, with John, heading for their room in block 43 to prepare for the party. Halfway John decided to go and buy some cigarettes, so Sam continued walking alone. But much to his surprise the entrance of the block was not there - there was fresh concrete instead of it. He was now surprised, but he became even more surprised, when two men grabbed him and threw him on the back seat of a car. In seconds they were dashing around the cars on the boulevard, towards the fields out of the city. He was silent. They exited the city, and took a dirt road into the fields. It was cloudy, just about to rain. Two men were running through the field. At that point Sam remembered his short dream. It seemed meaningless, though, so he ignored it. He then muttered a question to his kidnappers - "Why me, I'm just an ordinary guy". A creepy thunder came instead of an answer...
And then he woke up. The shovel was still in his hands, and the gravestone behind his back was cold. Thirteen graves for one day had indeed tired him. Thirteen graves to shelter what had once been men, but were now only bodies. In fact Sam used to ask himself what the difference is. And he didn't know the answer. Why were the bones and flesh unable to get up and start working again? They never did, so he was digging new graves. And new ones. He stood up from where he had slept for a while, and glimpsed the nearby factory. It was emitting dense yellow smoke as usual. Then they came - a dozen of people, carrying a coffin. They slowly descended the coffin into one of Sam's masterpieces. It was gloomy. Then he went up the path between the graves, to a place where he could see the whole graveyard. And he saw that all the graves he dug today were just filled with their inhebitants. 13 groups of no more than 10 people each, at different parts of the graveyard, descending the physical result of thirteen men's lives. He turned the other way. And noticed an obituary - someone named Sam Jones had died yesterday. Maybe he was among those thirteen down there. And maybe not. It didn't matter - it was just another day of work, and Sam headed for his cottage, 10 minutes from the graveyard. Then he saw a car coming, it almost hit him. There was a man lying on the back seat. It reminded Sam of his dream, but he didn't pay much attention, and resumed his pace towards his cottage. He was there. But the cottage wasn't. There was a big hole on its place. "A grave", Sam thought. He looked down the hole - a big coffin, made out of old wood. He could recognize the peeling paint of his cottage on the coffin - it was his home. Where would he live now? A flash. A thunder...
And then he woke up. It was his bed, his room, his flat. The girl next to him - the one from the bar last night - still sleeping. Yet another one on his account. He looked through the window. Nothingness. This used to scare him from time to time, and he hoped they will build the new hypermarket next to his block faster, so that he sees something, be it a wall. The girl woke up, dressed quickly, and left. "Bye, Sam". He didn't bother to reply. He looked at the calendar. August 13th. Saturday. He was having a meeting with the investors in the afteroon. It was important. They had insisted on a meeting with the managers, and Sam being one of them, had to introduce the new plans of the factory. They have worked hard to improve quality and productiveness. It was all numbers in his head. He stood, and looked himself in the mirror. He felt happy, with what he's doing, with what he had to do. He switched the TV on. The news. Nothing interesting. He looked in the mirror again. He felt lonely. He ignored it. The fridge was empty, so he went to the shop at the corner. "What will happen to it, when they build the hypermarket", he thought, "who cares". On his way back he stared in the nothingness. In the distance thousands of gravestones reflected the mild sunshine. For a second he remembered his dream. The sun suddenly disappeared. A flash, a thunder. Screams. Masked men running around him. Shooting. A bullet passing through his body.
He fell.
He felt he's dying. Painfully.
He fell asleep.
Would he wake up? Who cares...
Posted 09-14-2009 at 01:05 PM byMaya (Maya's Chronicles)
Updated 02-15-2011 at 09:07 AM byMaya
Maya Harriette Jones
Autoportrait
Age, Sex, Location, Occupation
Age: 21
Sex: Female
Location: United Kingdom
Occupation: Student (Astrophysics)
Interests
• Maths, Physics and Astronomy. Wow, that was unexpected, huh?
• Foreign languages. I have studied the nature of languages thoroughly at school and keep doing it in my free time. I can speak English (a few dialects), German, Russian, some Finnish, Karelian, and Estonian, and I've solved problems over many others. Something interesting? The Ndom language has a weird numeric system, base 6. It's based on the pigs' hooves, don't ask me how exactly. People treat pigs as holy creatures and they even trade them for brides. Seriously.
• Religion. I've devoted many hours studying the Bible and problems connected with it. If you're interested, you're always welcome to discuss it with me.
• Music. It's already part of my life - I can't live without music. There's always some melody playing in my mind, all the time. Favorite genres and bands? Rock, Metal and Classical music. Deep Purple, Rainbow, Kamelot, Avantasia, Edguy, Stratovarius, Masterplan, Sonata Arctica and many many more. Favorite song: Metallica - Nothing Else Matters.
• Literature. I simply love reading. Prefering any genre, as long as the work is interesting and well-written. Favorite books? Hmm, The Green Mile, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Harry Potter series, The King and the Doll Master (which you've probably never heard of, and it's only found in German), The Manchurian Candidate, ...
Weird Facts About Me
• I associate sounds with colours.
• I associate smells with feelings.
• Sometimes I can remember the lights around a certain event, even if I can't remember the event itself.
• I suffer from myopia, hypothyroidism, hypotension and arrhythmia... Well, I can say I'm in pretty bad physical condition. =/
• I can fight well and I'm quite strong.
• I'm very well mannered. You will never hear vulgar words from me. I use formal English nearly everywhere.
DotA
Favorite Hero: Pit Lord
Favorite Item: Necronomicon
Favorite Role: Initiator, Support
Skill Rate: Moderate
Favorite Platform: Garena
Other Platforms: Battle.net (Nothrend)
Username: Bee_Maya
Posted 08-22-2009 at 10:08 AM byMaya (Maya's Chronicles)
Well, it's time to put the blog to a good use. Speak your mind and ask me anything you think I can answer. Avoid offensive, stalking and pointless questions :)
You may eventually notice that this is a good way to avoid the flood of "Ask me" threads in the forum.
Posted 08-17-2009 at 07:29 AM byMaya (Maya's Chronicles)
This new implemented system allows publishing of almost everything without having to flood the forum sections. Right, that's great and I'll soon start to abuse it
