Planning:
Plan the game your about to play, decide what kind of strategic you ought to be playing, set minute marks such as 11 minutes pushing mid lane 1st tower etc. ending the game at the 30th minute. Do not only decide which items your teams has to achieve but also set minute marks on when team members are suppose to have farmed up their core items. Etc. it isn't a failure if you won't have farmed up at that minute mark but it does give you some indications during the game if everything is going according to plan etc. This will increase your team play maybe it sounds weird since you'll never be achieving those minute marks. Though by planning ahead you'll avoid having times where your team will have moments like uhm... guys? what are we going to do....? By having minute marks you and your team will know what most likely will be your best option. This saves up time and time is essential.
Drafting:
Drafting also known as picking is of course a major part in DotA. You'll need to select an synergized group of heroes which also imbues your team strategy for this game as well as countering the picks of your enemies.
drafting will be done most likely in Captains Mode (-cm). You can only ban 5 heroes, but so can your enemy, you can only pick 5 heroes just like your enemy. How to pick and how to ban consist out of your strategy and overpowered version heroes.
If you can't ban the hero you wanted to ban you can choose to pick him so your enemy won't be able to use them either. How to counter pick is common sense as far as i know. Click here for more and Click here for more
Synergy:
Counterpicking
banning
Banning
Chicken Abuse:
The chicken highly underrated in pub play but they are extremely useful during the laning phase since he chicken was nerved recently it can't ward any longer. However despite that fact chickens are really useful. Mostly the babysitter/Support pays for 1 chicken before the creeps spawn and shares it with everybody. The first laning money the owner farms should be used to upgrade the chick to a crow. Make proper agreements with your team and always let them know if you're going to use the chicken and NEVER forget to ask your lane partner is he/she wanted the chick to bring stuff to your lane. The chicken saves up time for walking back to the base to get your items and new consumables this way you can remain longer in your lane and thus not loosing out in gold or experience.
The more advanced way of abusing the chicken is making the time he fly's over your head enough to drop all you stuff on your hero and immediately sending the chicken back to base. It takes some practice and time to get the hang of it but it pays of in the long run. Chicken gained a great buff as of 6.60.
Click here for more
Chain Disabling:
Chain disabling the most common use of this is chain stunning. This consists out of combining disables and use them shortly after each other instead of using them all at once. By using them shortly after each other you have longer time the enemy is disabled and thus have more time to finish them off, it would be a waste to stun them for 2 secs with 20 spells after those 2 seconds they can easily move back to safety. Some heroes have fast long range solo stuns (vs/Sven/Leoric) others have fast short range fast AoE stuns(Cent, Magnus) other have long range slow AoE stuns (Lesrac/Lina), And others have fast Long Ranged AoE Stuns (lion, Crix, Nerub). If you're going to chain disable the most important part of it is the order in which who will stun, Best way is to start with long range fast stuns followed up by long ranged slow stuns followed up by short range fast stuns follow up by short range slow stuns. This way everyone has time to get close enough to do their stuns. Solo-stuns can be used for breaking of channeling spells of course as well as for chasing solo heroes. Though AoE can be used as well for a single hero though its a bit of a waste. But of course a kill is a kill and a disable is a disable.
Click here for more
Team fights:
Team fights are the moments both factions clash with another to prove whose the strongest or the smartest. Team fights are game breaking and essential in team fights there is lots of experience to be achieved and is most likely one of the hardest parts in team play. When your entire team dies in a team fight there's big chance you enemies will abuse this and rax a lane or even win the game. This is why you'll need to practice this with your team, and I know it’s hard and it takes a lot of time but in the end it pays of really well.
Setting up team fights:
How to create a team fight challenge lets assume your team has advantages in team fights it would be smart to try luring your opponents to team fight since the chances your team will win it is bigger. How do you start a team fight? There are some tricks to it such as going for a Towerpush will result in team fights since the enemy will teleport to that tower however having a team fight under the enemy tower is an disadvantage.
Locations:
most common locations for team fights are shown in the map showed below, I've numbered the team fight locations and added screenshots of those area's some screenshots have a different angle as a normal game since sometimes i could give better insight in the area by chaning the angle. Yes team fights happen everywhere however these are the most common places where they occur. It is true that teambattles happen everywhere on the map. you should be able to base on the same factors if your team has an advantage or an disadvantage over there.
I've Decided (dis)advantages based on the following factors:
- Escaperoutes (gray lines)
- Jukingspots (red circles)
- Ground control (higher/lower ground)
- Towers
- Creeps (neutrals are blue circles)
Positioning:
Which formation is the best if you are planning on winning a team fight. It will be obvious standing to close near each other will be a failure since that way your entire team is very fragile to AoE damage and AoE Disables.
V-Formation
Y-Formation
U-Formation
O-Formation
Luring the enemy to lower grounds:
Move the team fight location to a location where your team has the advantage or at least no disadvantage.
Deciding focus:
Deciding the focus in the next team fight you've probably seen it many times 4 enemies are running away from the team fight all with very few health left and you entire team is dead. You could've killed at least 2 of them if you guys would've attack the same guy. So which heroes are the best to focus first?
Order of taking out the enemy:
First: HardCarries they will fuck you if they don't die often enough.
Second: Support no more disables/Heals on their team.
Thirth: Glass Cannons diminishes the amount of burst damage dealt to your team.
Fourth: Gankers by killing them your lanes are save they are bit harder to take out and they got burst damage so the most of their damage has been dealt in the beginning so they aren't that much of a threat anymore but quite easy to take out.
Fifth: Tanks these guys can absorb many damage but won't deal much if you just ignore them during team fights they become quite useless in team fights after they've most likely initiated the team fight they've become useless for the next few minutes.
Packhunting:
First inniate:
Order of entering battle:
First: Battle-initiators they have this name for a reason obvious, if you have a good initiate it grants your entire team the time to position ate well and thus increase the capability of the entire team fight, and disabling all of your opponents in the same time is an obvious advantage.
Second: Tanks commonly these guys are the battle initiators as well these guys run in first to take on the first disables and increasing the first burst damage in order to let the rest of the team to do their jobs.
Thirth: Dps these guys start dealing damage and taking some damage
Fourth: Nukers You run in and help the DPS in dealing damage and taking out your opponents.
Fifth: You run in and start disabling the guys that the damage faction is tearing apart or the guys that are interrupting them from doing so
Last: Healers/Replenishers you run in and heal your DPS heroes tanks and nukers. you run in last since you'll be not needed when everybody is still at full health and it’s your job to make sure the most heroes on your team survive.
Escaping from Team fights:
How to escape from team fights, when you know your team will lose it avoid it, however if your forced to do a team fight try to disable the enemy and run, try to let as many of your teammates as possible survive. If someone has to die better let support die then the carry the ones who can defend should be defended at all costs if you want to be able to win. Sometimes you'll have to sacrifice a pawn to safe a king. When to scatter and when to stay close to each other is a something that depends on the line-up. What are better odds to have as many players as possible to survive.
If you can't escape try to commit suicide on creeps since this way the enemy won't get your bounty and won't get experience from your death.
Avoiding Team fights:
How to avoid Team fights, try to do more laning and gank more so the enemy can't plan on doing a team fight. When several enemies are missing make sure your team returns to safety try not to gank the opponent or push at that time since there will be a big chance it will result in a team fight.
Golden rules:
If your team is low on mana your team can't deal maximum damage an can't make use of its full disabling potential. So having low mana pools is a reason to avoid team battles.
Always share focus when doing so you can make it a 4 v5 fight instead of a 5 v 5 fight since the faster you take out opponents the bigger your advantage in the team fight will be.
Do not keep looming for too long since the enemy will most likely know what your team is plotting and will have enough time to counter your actions.
Always make sure your team has several escape routes.
If you will die? Make your death for a use, either dyeing to make team members survive or die by dealing as much damage as possible.
If you can't escape try to commit suicide on creeps since this way the enemy won't get your bounty and won't get experience from your death. However some heroes can commit suicide by themselves like Techies/Cent/Pudge etc.
Hints about Team fights:
Stacking creeps on locations where team fights will most likely be when having Earthshaker/Dirge/Axe on your team.
Split the enemy team up in several groups and thus making it an advantage. You take out an enemy with more skill by outnumbering him.
If you know there's no way of escaping the team fight it is wise to deal as much damage as possible before you die.
Cut of exits from your enemies so they won't be able to get away. Cornering them is a way to do this.
Try to lure the enemy to grounds where your team has the advantage.
<30 The Ox Fastpushing
>45 The Tiger Gank and farm
>45 The Rat Avoid and Rax
>35 The Snake Roam, Gank, Gank, and Gank
>30 The Dragon Team battles
<25 The Rabbit Creeps FTW
>30 The Monkey LateGame push all lanes at once
>45 The Wolf Team battle Pushing Pugna pit od qop
>30 The Dog Aura's Raping Click here for more
>45 The Turtle Avoid and farm
Analysing your Team's replays:
It's smart to check your team their replays, search for mistakes and think of way it could've been avoided.
Since you should learn from your mistakes you should take the time to analise what those mistakes were.
Links:
for analysing tools
Watching replays from older patches
a Program used to hide the menu's for an complete table_of_contents
Replay Database from the competitive scene
Replay Database from the Competitive scene II
Replay Database from the competitive scene and Stories
Last Words:
Well you've made it to the end this Giant Guide, I hope it had some parts that could be of use to you and your team. But keep in mind, it takes time to get skill. Practice makes perfect. Good Luck and Have Fun
~Lycan
PS. Paws are for Pawnage ^^
Misc guide Author: Lycan
Map Vers.: 6.99
Advancing your: Strategies
Forming & Becoming a Pack: Part [4]
Last Comment:22/04/2012
Total Votes: 0
Current Rating: 0.00
Views: 10386
