Which is better?

Is it better to be a master of one hero and bad at all else or good at all heros but master of none?

Whoa... being good at all heroes takes so much more time than really good at one, simply because there are so many heroes... :C

No like being decent at all or being a total master of one.

pick a super strong mid hero who is massive atm in the meta due to patch changes.

master it within 4-6 weeks upto a 5k standard.

still lose.

why?

because you dont know what the other heroes can do. your positioning is off. your movements are wrong. your decision making is influenced by that single hero.yes you might wreck mid 9 times outa 10 due to the fact that the hero in question is stupidly strong but i could win mid easily against you ... how?

a better draft
rotations
focus
communication
smart play
damage control
decision making


you could be the best player in the world at Razor... but ill just pick Phoenix or Queen of Pain and come in and be at 3k standard and win.

i would rather know all heroes to a 3k-4k standard then know 1 hero to a 8 k standard.


how to win dota?

versatility

It's better to have a good Pool of Heroes that you can choose from each, so you can make strong plays no matter what kind of game you're in. You'll probably have that one favourite Hero you aspire to be the best at, e.g. being a GODLIKE Invoker who can actually get something out of Aghanim's Scepter + Refresher Orb.

When you start, stick to 2 or 3 easy to play Heroes that you find satisfying to play, e.g. Viper, Crystal Maiden, Lion, Wraith King, etc. once you've gotten to the point where you understand how a few other Heroes are played, start branching out and trying new Heroes. You'll eventually figure out which type of Hero you enjoy playing the most, e.g. Roamers, Hard Supports, Mid-Game Carries, etc. and start focusing on a few of them. After that, you can try heroes who are a bit harder to play effectively, e.g. Ember Spirit, Leshrac, Mirana, Windranger, Visage etc. and should have 50+ games with a hero or 3 by this point. You should then make sure you have a good understanding of different Roles, from the magniicent Hard Supports, to the boring Hard Carries.

After that, the world is your oyster...you can even try the most Skill intensive Heroes in the game:- Earth Spirit, Invoker and Meepo. <}3

You'll see n00bs who say "I don't play Support". They're n00bs because they don't understand how to be effetive without Farm, they'll forever suck at playing from a disadvantage and only ever succeed when someone on the other Team Feeds them early on, they certainly won't learn how to avoid being Ganked by good Supports either. 8{3

Ultimately, it's impossible to master any Hero without being decent at all of them.

True, take Rubick as an extreme example of this.

You can't play Rubick unless you know most of the spells in the game...

guys...thats not what he is asking. You can know what heroes are capable of (or rather when you can engage them and when you cant) without playing that hero yourself...so that statement is wrong.

However, i have to agree on the "wider hero-pool" statement. Even if you were to truely master one hero, that hero might not be good in every lineup or might struggle against enemy picks (cause no matter how good you can play a hero, there is ALWAYS a way to beat his mechanics). If you are "decent" on lets say ~10 heroes however (preferable covering each role) you will be more flexible when it comes to drafting and overall lineup-strategy.

i play all heroes.Worship your god Heathens :{D

It's a tough question - some heroes Invoker, Meepo, Earth Spirit etc require a lot of time investment if you're going to be really useful with them. Even then, it might not be appropriate to pick them due to heavy counters on the opposition.

I'd say you need a mix of both skillsets for all the reasons outlined in the posts above - you need a broad enough hero pool that you can pickup roles and suitable heroes as required - trying to play specific ones in the wrong situations is rarely a good idea.

However, once you have a reasonable hero pool, you might want to try getting really good on specific ones who take your fancy. Some heroes are just not worth playing unless you're good at them. There are also some heroes Rubick, Oracle etc who require you to have very broad knowledge and experience.

Personally, while I have my favourites, I have a very broad hero pool (especially supports and offlaners) and reckon I can pickup most heroes or roles and be solid without a lot of experience on them specifically. There's still some I wouldn't even dream of keeping if I randomed them and nobody wanted to swap, and that's after 2 and a half years of playing!

For example, I've played Juggernaut about twice, ever. The two games I have with him, I'm pretty sure we won...he's not that difficult to play, I understand his builds and skillset. BUT you'd get much more out of the hero giving him to someone like Nubtrain who's really good with him.

No, it's actually quite true.

Speaking of which...Nubtrain, WHERE'S MY RAMPAGE?!!! >8{D