How to proceed as a new player

Hi there,

i started playing Dota2 a few weeks ago. I did the tutorial and currently i am playing player vs. bot matched online to learn the game.
I am currently going thru all the hero's and i plan to do so until i played every hero at least once. I usually go thru a few guides before i test a new char to have some idea on how to play them. Now i am currently <10 Hero's short of completing my goal.
My plan was to go and play pub's after that using a support char of my choice.
Is that a reasonable approach?
When should i switch to playing vs. Humans instead of bots?
Does is make sense to search for a team/clan before building up a decent skill level?

thx

sal

Playing every hero is probably overkill but fair play for your hard work. If you're already playing with other people you've got an idea what vs humans will be like (albeit more unpredictable), you're good to go basically. You maybe need to play for a while and get some experience before worrying about getting a serious team/clan, but there's no reason not to team up with friends or nice players that you meet along the way.

If you're about the same standard it really helps make the games more fun and make random matchmaking less of an issue.

You should play about 100 to 300 games before searching for a team, in my opinion.

Sure, you can start making friends, that's always good, but try to focus on your individual skill first, know your role and your appointments.

Also, feel free to play with humans when you feel ready, and make sure to ignore the flaming and negative attitude, it ruins the fun and the experience :)

Yes, it's generally a good idea to familiarise yourself with how Heroes are typically played.

Once you find at least 2 or 3 Heroes you feel comfortable with, you should be ready, e.g. you've played Drow Ranger to the point where you aim her Silence to hit multiple Heroes without getting yourself Chain-Stunned and Killed for it and can also stay at a comfortable Range for Auto-Attacking things.

Sadly, if you don't, you'll probably end up getting yelled at and reported in your First match if you don't. 8{(

So yes, find a Clan that doesn't mind playing with a new Player, who plays in the same Region as you. Perhaps even find a mentor who can help you learn the game bit, by bit.

P.S. One last piece of advice, playing DOTA well requires you to be aware of everything that goes on around you, and to react accordingly. This is impossible to do when you are first starting. Just take it one step at a time, making one little goal for yourself at a time, like "I'm not going to be caught wandering off by myself", "I'm going to keep an eye on the Mini-map when I'm not Last Hitting", "I'm going to make sure we always have Vision of the Roshan Pit", "I'm going to hit at least 2 people with my Ultimate, every time", etc. Once you find you can do each goal consistantly, focus on a new one, while trying to maintain all the old ones. It'll take a looooong time, but you'll gradually improve.

P.P.S. One DEFINITELY final piece of advice, I recommend Lion and Lich as good Support Heroes to start out with. They have ways of maintaining their Mana so you have less to worry about, and their Ultimates (especially Finger of Death) can be extremely gratifying, especially when used the right way (};

thx 4 your replies.

I have a lot of experience playing online so i think i can take the "human interaction" part pretty well. I just figured its best to learn the game in a more relaxing way (vs. bots). I guess i already played 100+ pub.bot matches since there are more than 100 hero's and i am nearly thru them all. And i did play some of them multiple times.
Do you think i should focus on a/or some specific hero for playing pubs?
If so what hero's would you recommend for that?

I recommend the heroes you enjoy the most. Pick a role, and try to learn it's heroes.

Before anything, finish your "all heroes" marathon, would be a waste to let it end prematurely.

Alright, so supporting lets you learn the game faster. Make sure to play the occasional Riki, Lifestealer, Shadow Fiend or whatever you want to make sure you don't neglect the other roles but remember that supporting should be your focus. (Your choice though, this approach is just better in terms of learning and how useful it gets)

Through supporting since you seem to play alone regularly I would recommend support heroes that do well on their on such as Earthshaker, Tidehunter, Lion, Lina, Windrunner and so on. Generally pretty much any support except the following:

Bane, Chen, Enchantress, Io

Remember, no supports that demand team cooperation. Use them once you have people you cna trust in-game.

As someone who has not that long left the "newbie" bracket (I have 240 games under my belt online, numerous bot matches and hours of viewing time) I would like to add a couple of things from my experience.

First, learn the items - learn not only how to build them but what they do and who they suit best. In the early days in game I used to waste a lot of time trying to work out what I should build for the best - then once you know that, learn what to build based on the way the game is progressing - which means understanding what you are facing in the opposite team, which you are already covering off.

I would also watch a lot of DOTA2 - I have learnt a lot by watching competitive DOTA and took it into my games, so long as you always keep in mind that Pub DOTA is way way different to comp DOTA, but you learn a lot about Heros, game mechanics, tactics etc etc.

I think it too me about 30 bot matches and research before I transitioned to pub matches.

Oh and of course - this website is a big help and so to is DOTA2wiki, understanding the mechanics is fundamental to understanding how the Heros work and so to the items.

thx 4 all the feedback.

I was planning to finish my marathon first anyway, no need to rush things on my side. I like being well prepared for combat =).

Any suggestions on what competitive matches to watch?

JoinDOTA. Tobi's so fun to watch: his videos are the only ones on YouTube lasting 30+ minutes that I can watch until the end.
If you want a more specific video selection, I'd suggest going for the most recent ones like RoX KIS vs SS which I frankly enjoyed: none of the teams first-picked Batrider or Clockwerk, but the overall picks and bans should give you an idea about the Heroes they currently use in competitive (aside from Earthshaker, who is most of the time a situational Hero). And there's also a carry Pugna, so I coudn't be happier. I usually watch the American and European teams (Liquid, Speed Gaming, Na'Vi, Alliance, RoX.KIS, Fnatic and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of them), I think you could really learn a lot from them.


And about the Heroes: no matter how skilled you are, with a good item build you'll always play a good match. That's why I suggest starting with supports: you quickly learn how to make the most common items ( Magic Wand, Mekansm, Urn of Shadows, Force Staff...) and the support builds don't vary much from Hero to Hero. And don't forget about Observer Wards, they win games!