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Hello everyone! This is my guide to team building and team roles and position.
This guide will be a comprehensive break down to effective team building and how each member on a team should be playing their roles to the utmost efficacy.
More often than not, when playing online, you will see a team that consists of nothing but heroes that essentially have high killing capabilities.
Does this team look familiar to you?
5 highly destructive carry characters that in late game, would be an unstoppable force.
This is a guide to say that if you are playing in a group, fret not, more often than not, these are teams that end up getting in each other's way.
Why? Because these 5 characters are extremely farm intensive to be effective mid-late game which means at an early game stage, these heroes, against a properly coordinated team, would suffer due to the lack of versatility. There are many heroes with the innate ability to harass and outlane these heroes. Also, the fact that all these heroes are hard carries, would mean that they would have to compete with each other for gold farm, thus slowing their item progression rates.
This guide will have multiple parts which will involve strategies, good team compositions and of course, position elaboration.
As with most competitive plays, I will now classify the positions using numbers.
So when you do watch competitive matches, don't be confused when the caster/commentator says "I wonder who they will pick for their 3?"
This is the list of positions any stable team should have.
#1 The Hard Carry
#2 The Midlaner
#3 The Offlaner
#4 Secondary Support
#5 Primary Support
This is easily the most popular choice for any dota player. Why?
This position makes you the baby of the team. You are allowed to do what you want, farm when you want and join engagements only when you feel that it is safe enough.
In pro level games, Hard Carries receive the most farm, are allowed last hits on towers and there will never be complaints when you take the last hits on hero kills. This means a massive gold pool, constant leveling and the satisfaction of watching your character run around the map butt raping every other hero.
These are some examples for a position 1 hero.
During the mid to late game, with the right set of items, these heroes are unstoppable. They have an insane damage per second output and are harder to kill off than Kenny from South Park.
Duties
1. Farm like you're starving. While the rest of your team runs around the map giving pressure and forcing opponents to commit to team fights, you get the easy job of killing creeps, pushing at unguarded tower and visiting neutral camps for extra gold and EXP. Sounds easy? For the more experienced players, this is a cakewalk. But for newcomers, before you delve into this role, master the art of Last Hitting. For a decent level farm, your avergae creep score should be 4-5 CS per minute. Pros like ZSMJ and Na'vi XBOCT can easily average 7-9 CS per minute (including neutral camps) when left unattended.
2. Engage only when you are assured kills and only if your team really needs you. Otherwise, its back to the forest and lanes to kill some creeps.
3. Don't get overly greedy. If you are an Alchemist and you have already a phaseboots, shadowblade, assault curi*** and mjollnir. Get your fat wifebeater *** to team fights. Leaving your team unattended for too lengthy periods of time could be detrimental as your team is essentially fighting a 5 v 4 which means that your team would probably love some assistance in taking down the opposition team.
This position is often left to the most skilled player on the team. It is his responsibility to level up the most rapidly on the team and gank together with the rest of the team. These heroes often have either high support capabilities or high burst damage outputs but must also be able to farm quickly early game.
Usually, these heroes will leave their lanes by lvl 6 or 7, or sometimes earlier if they are able to farm up core items before then.
These are some examples of position 2 heroes
Duties
1. Get as much farm and exp in the early game stages possible. The faster you get to level 6, the faster your team can start pulling ahead in battles. Heroes like the Queen of Pain are one of the most popular picks for a midlaner. Not only does she deal massive amounts of damage early game, she has a nifty escape and initiation skill that makes her all the more difficult to kill.
2. Be sustainable. More often than not in pub games, Midlaners are often seen running back to base. It might be difficult or tedious, but learn to bottle crow. This will allow you to stay out on the battlefield while maintaining a constant mana and health pool to join in team battles. The more you gank your opponents, the bigger the problem your opponents will perceive you to be, and the more your Position 1 has room to farm.
This position is one of the hardest to play, yet also one of the most essential. This position usually involves a hero that early game is extremely hard to kill, and yet can hold its own against an aggressive tri-lane. Your lane will always be the suicide lane which means Top Lane for the Radiant side and the Bottom Lane for the Dire Side. These are lanes that are most susceptible to ganks and should your opponents outlane you, you will not be able to pull creeps to survive.
The heroes involved in these picks are unique in the sense that they are still able to level up and farm a little bit even if they are not at the creep clashes. Heroes that are strong Offlane/Suicide Laners are heroes like : -
Duties
1. Don't take risks. Sometimes, you will see a windranger up against a tri-lane. With a soul ring and constant spamming of her powershot, her opponents are often at half or less hit points. Taking a risk would be activating windrun and diving into an opponent ball that is 3 people hoping to take down one of them. In the long run, because death is often inevitable for a 1 v 3, you will end up hurting your team. This is because allowing 2 of their characters or all 3 if you fail to make the kill to gain gold and experience, would eventually set your team back.
2. Your presence is needed in ganks. This is how you make up for gold that you have not been able to farm. Except in the case of a broodmother who's essential role is to be a hard pusher and annoy the opponents, offlaners will gank aggressively as their presence in battles are extremely important.
The secondary support role dedicates itself to one singular role during battles. Essentially, you are the "Hard Carry" of the supports. These characters are often item dependent and to maximize their potential, they will need to farm up their core items asap. Because of this fact, these supports will usually take to the easy lane (Bottom Lane for Radiant and Top Lane for Dire) While the other 2 heroes (Or sometimes one) stay on that lane, the Secondary Support can take to the jungle in the general vicinity to farm their core items and also to assist their teams when needed.
These are some examples of Secondary Supports
Duties
1. Be mindful of your lane. Experienced players will know exactly where you are if you are jungling and don't put it past them to attack you in the forest when you are jungling. A good example of jungling gone wrong would be to go to the forest and jungle as a Chen when there is a bounty hunter on your lane. Not only can he remain permanently invisible around you while you farm in the jungle, he can and will take half the experience you gain, as well as probably last hit the most crucial creeps thus halving your farm.
2. Buy wards and dust when your Primary support is unable to. Unfortunately, aside from your crucial skill set, you will have to cover the Primary Support once in a while. Things like observer wards, smoke of deceit, sentry wards and dust of appearance will be part of your item repertoire. Your farm is important until you farm up your core item set. After which, you will play the role that your character is designed to play and go for lesser farm. E.g. Chen is a heavy healer with a mekansm and Earthshaker will be a powerful initiator and stunner with a blink dagger.
No one likes playing this role. No one ever wants to play this role. Why? This is because at any given point in time, your gold and items are like liquid assets for the team. If your team carry says "Buy me wards, or give me your tangoes" you do it. In other words, you are like an extra storage bag and semi sponsor for your hard carry.
Primary Supports usually lane with their Hard Carries. Their job is to give the Hard Carry all the farm and deny creeps. The only time they are allowed to take a last hit on enemy creeps, is when they are sure that the Hard Carry will be unable to take that particular creep. Essentially, you are like that single mom making ends meet. Every single bit of gold counts for you and you will have to learn to make every single gold count. These supports are usually heroes that with or without farm, their presence is battle is no less felt, which is why they require little or no farm. They are the most versatile of heroes in battle with the ability to cancel out opponents' skills, help team mates escape, disable opponents and also healing team mates at times.
Some examples of Primary Support Heroes are : -
Duties
1. Give the carry all the farm. Make every gold count. Get items that are cheap and sustainable so that you are able to lane constantly with your Hard Carry to make sure he survives/secures farm.
2. DO NOT ask your carry for farm. As a Primary Support, you have no wants. You cannot say things like "Let me have this wave, I need my mana boots." NO. Any farm that comes your way that helps you attain your item is an added bonus. Primary Supports have been known to end a game with nothing but a pair of boots and a force staff. Why? Because every single gold that you have earned goes to things that will help your carry/other team mates survive. You have to think for the greater good of the team. That means warding, de-warding, smoking up your team and sometimes even purchasing a gem for someone to carry, would all be involved.
3. Purchase only items that are relevant to your team. A Primary Support typically has no core build as he/she adapts to the opposition team play, although mekansm seems to be the only all rounder choice unless someone else on your team is getting a mekansm as well. If the opposition team is dedicated to mass aoe spell damage, you will have to go for a pipe of insight. If the opposition team is dedicated to initiation with heroes like a pudge or a clockwork, you will have to go for a Euls Scepter or Scythe of Vise if you can afford it.
This is the end of Part I. I hope you guys have enjoyed this guide. Stay tuned for Part II!
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