Good PUB combos / team setups

Hi!

Short intro: I've played dota for two months or so and have managed to rack up a bit over 100 games. I usually play a lot of solo pubs, but lately a few friends have started playing dota. We're now 4 in total with very varying degrees of moba experience, from a dozen to about a thousand games played.

What I'm looking for are tips on good 2, 3 & 4 man setups. Since we're currently missing a fifth it'll always be a random pub-player, which usually means they'll never play a support. We can't force the last person to play a certain roles, but we do always "call" mid and safe-lanes so that we can guarantee some farm, which means they usually end up in the suicide lane.

So any tips on good 4-man synergy teams would be very welcome. The problem is that the 4 people need to fill more or less all roles and the fifth will be a wild card. We also don't trust the random to do a good job as a carry.

Cheers,

Shortleif

Well, get a 5th. Everything starts there. This is the best option.

If you need to play as 4, then 2 of you need to support with the other 2 waiting for the other player to pick. Random pub players are usually solo mid or hard carries (they probably will suck though, you need to expect that)

Probably get disable heavy line ups, because those dominate pubs in general. Having at least 4 disables in a semi-coordinated ~ coordinated team is enough to net a pub win.

Get early game heroes in general, they win games.

Are you looking for pub stomp combos or serious team combinations?

Rather have serious combos as the pub stomp ones will only work for so long.

Oh, and we're trying to get a fifth but it won't happen very quickly. And letting the random get mid or #1 feels like a big no-no. But I guess we might have to.

5-man combos would also be appreciated, the more noob friendly the better... ie. chen, meepo etc. Will be hard for us to play even reasonably well.

I'd recommend dual roaming. It's honestly not that hard when 2 people know each other. Try doing it with heroes like Shadow Demon with Leshrac or Vengeful Spirit with Centaur Warrunner .

You start the game with 3 solos. 2 supports will be roaming around the map early game for kills. The 2 supports will probably camp until 0:30 or so at mid to get the first blood against the enemy mid hero. Once you get the kill, continue this in other lanes. Use one hero's spell as the setup to the other's, and make sure you chain those stuns together and ask for the solo hero in the specific lane you're ganking to help you out.

I think just asking for combos is too vague. Every hero can be used in some way, and combos work best if you have the right mindset for them. Maybe tell us your favourite hereos or the ones you play best with, and then we can try and incorporate them into combos and styles.

If you are playing as a 4 man party you can't really use very hard carries, because the offlane hero is required to make the space mid game for him to carry. Hereos such as Lifestealer and Alchemist would work well as they don't require lots of time to farm to be effective.

I can't tell if your team is high up the ELO charts. There's no reason why stompy heroes like Storm, Furion, Naix, Troll, Centaur, Tusk, etc. can't win you games.

Just pick heroes you like to play and have fun. I find that tryharding with friends takes a lot away from the potential experience. Don't worry about your WL Ratio, MM will keep you steady.

This sounds like something fun and different, I'll definitely try this out with a friend.




Ok, so I was never really an RTS guy – I come from the world of MMOs and FPS. And while playing those games I always liked playing sneaking roles... I have tried Riki, BH etc. in dota... but I just feel that I'm countered so easily.

For combos I like cool/gimmicky stuff more than anything else... ie. FV/Lich. So any tips on those would be welcome for when I just play with one other friend.

Good tip on the not using too hard of a carry... which would be best to avoid? I always try to get someone with a stun when I play the carry and usually end up on Sven as I had a horrible time trying alch with a ton of self stuns.



Sure it's fun to play around, but I've always found more satisfaction in perfectly executed combos rather than outright slaughter. But I'll give all those heroes a go... I've only tried Furion and naix so far, both of which I liked.

Hereos to avoid until you get 5 players would be Faceless Void, Spectre, Medusa, Weaver, Anti Mage. They all need a lot of time where they just farm up, and you probably won't get that space.

As for stealthy hereos, don't play them much but can make a few suggestions. Riki isn't seen much in serious games, although when he is it's quite often with Io as Tether gives a stun with riki's Blink Strike.
Clinkz might be a good hero to try, he needs a solo lane and can snowball once he gets his orchid if given a chance.
If with an untalkative 5th player, you should choose a flexible hero that can do a lot of roles, I'd suggest Windrunner and Mirana, both can play offlane, mid, support, or even farm ancients if needed. Mirana would also add another element to your stealth style, as her ultimate makes your entire team invisible.

And if it's cool spells you want, play Rubick and have a choice from 5 hereos :p

I'll definitely tried Clinkz, I haven't gotten around to it before but I will now.

I have tried Rubick and yes, it's a whole lot of fun but I did find it pretty hard. On the other hand his versatility is something that really speaks to me. I guess I just need some practice.

But if anyone have any gimmicky combos of 2-3 heroes I'd love to hear them just as much as good full team comps.