this site really needs some intermediate guides

like many im familiar with dota style game play and the MAJOR differences between the different flavors out there. (ie denying, gold penalties etc)

what i do need is an explanation on how the leveling mechanic works, to be specific. for example lol is 1-18 and dota is 1-25 but you can put points into basic stats instead of skills depending on build/preference? when you do this do you level a particular stat or is it a base upgrade to all stats, followed by supplementing stats with items? whats the deal with the courier?

speaking of items, an introduction to items would help. from what i gather you dont always start with a wand or shield but a bunch of potions alot of the time? what are the go to items? ie wards, stealth detection?

finally what are some good staple heros to go to while i adjust to the pace of dota 2. preferably someone who stands in the back lol. support or mage. i find with tank and assassin you need to know what your doing lol. basically im not saying who is OP, just who is useful and has a decent tool kit to protect themselves.

So yeah will try to answer as many question as i can.

1. Yes you can level up stats at any level instead of skill for that you will get +2 for every stats (strenght,agility,intelingence)

2.I don't know if you know this,but strenght gives health and health regen.
agility gives armor and attackspeed
inteligence gives mana and mana regen
And also these stats give you dmg.Basiclly if you're agility hero then 1 point agility will give you 1 dmg.
Also every hero gains stats when they level up for every hero that's different.

3.Courier, you ask why you need it? Because it's not LoL where you can just prees B and teleport to base for free.In Dota 2 you need courier to get you're stuff without losing valuable farming and exp time. Basiclly you stay on lane while courier brings you things you need. And that is very important expecially for carry.

4. Again i don't know if you know it, but in Dota 2 all heroes are divided in roles.

Initiator - some people call strenght initiators tank, but not only strenght heroes can intiate, int and agi can also. Basiclly initatior initates the fight, goes first in and stuff.

Carry - is the one who farms and kill steals as much as he can so in lategame he can PWN. Why? is he called carry? Because in early game team carries him by letting him farm and ***iting it in kills, and when he gets items what he needs he carries team.

Ganker - are heroes who gank well...obviously

Supports - iteam independet heroes usually who's job is to buy wards and stuff.

Semi carry - like carry only stronger early than carry and weaker later than carry.

Then there's sub clases like pusher,jungler,babysiter.

5. Most heroes start with all lot of regen so they can stay on lane longer and not die obviously.

6. Easy heroes for newcomers? hmm Lich,Crystal Maiden is easy but at the same time hard because you need to know how to not die and be usefull at the same time. Zeus is pretty simple try to nuke every one down without dyieng. You can also try Lina and Lion, hardest for both is to hit a stun. Dazzle and Venomancer are quite nice for newcomers i guess too.

P.S If you got more questions or questions about my answer feel free to ask :D

What do you mean by Intermediate guides? I try to put enough depth and detail into my guides so that anyone can read them without trouble.

Anyways to answer most of your questions, I cannot stress enough that everyone regardless if they are new, experienced or a veteran of any of the Action RTS games, needs to play practice. Get used to the engine DOTA2 uses and how each hero works: their attack animation, missile speeds, range comparisons and overall competency of every hero. I did this for my first three games when I got my key and could proudly say that it was my first matchmaking game, that practice was worth it and not one regret was given.

Anyways, introductory items in DOTA2 are more so based around the early game. Think of most items that people get when the game starts and compare them to Doran items from LOL. We get them simply to be more effective at the very beginning of the game and rely on our hero do to the rest. As the game progresses, this switches for most heroes: They will be relying on their items instead of entirely on their hero. This is different from LOL because your team composition decides the game from the get go, while in DOTA2, team composition does play a factor, but it doesn't instantly decide the game. What you do to counter them during the course of the game, does.

If you are looking for a great all rounder hero, Enchantress aka Enchantress is your best bet. She can do almost any role in the game and is very flexible for players that are new to the game.

what i mean by intermediate guides is an explanation of who pays for courier, when starting out what are the "doran" items most ppl buy. should everyone buy wards? more importantly besides roshan what are the important warding locations.

is there a "get out of jail free" defensive item? like quick silver sash, remove all CC on you. are there any ANTI CC items?

Ah, I see. I am currently in the process of writing a miscellaneous guide that will cover everything in general from hero roles to warding locations and back again. Most of it will be the knowledge I have from DOTA:Allstars and what I have been noticing in DOTA2, mixed with my own opinions. I will be sure to cover both of those, thanks for reminding me!

As for a get out of jail free item, yes there is. It is much better than QSS or Cleanse, it is called Black King Bar and commonly referred to as the BKB. For a duration, your hero is immune to all magic damage and effects (magic immune). While there are some heroes that have spells that go through BKB, they are very few in number. Only two or three that I can remember off the top of my head.

Yes BKB, very similar to Zonya's Hourglass in LoL. Other than that there is really no Quick Silver Sash equivalent.

As for Doran's items dota doesn't have them, at the start most tend to get a few tangos, a healing salve or two and some gg branches (Iron Branch) though there are other items you can start with. It all comes down to experimenting and finding out what works for you!

Me and Loveless are currently working on a compendium, hopefully thatll help ^o^

I also have been building a post on the forums a mega 'Dotapedia' with the role of every hero, every items and maybe dirrwen and loveless if you don't mind I can add your ward locations etc.

thanks guys, can someone answer my question about the courier? does the whole team invest into this guy? from what i gather he can be killed? if so does that reset his level? how hard is it to kill him?

the courier is bought by one person on the team ( the gold come from the some player) but you can share possession or control with the whole team, therefore, someone else on the team can upgrade it into a 'flying courier'.

yes the courier can be killed by the enemy, but when upgraded, it gains the ability to use two spells that can enhance it's movement speed, and another that renders it completely invulnerable to all damage.

the courier does not level up. but when killed it will not re-spawn, so after death, it must be re-bought, and re-upgraded again.

Hope that helped :)