Old Dota 2 Habits You Should Unlearn
Everyone knows that Dota 2 is an unfriendly game for new players to dive into. As a result, the majority of the player base has been invested in the game for quite a long time. Over time we develop habits of how to play the game. The truth is, most Dota players are actually Dota Boomers who can wax poetic about how great things used to be back in the day. Any HOHO-HAHA fans out there?
Habitual knowledge can be a good thing but in a game that changes as often as Dota does, there are a lot of outdated concepts still being followed. Let’s talk about a few of these old habits that might help us avoid becoming one of those old guys in a rocking chair shouting, “Get out of my lane, ya young whippersnapper!”
1) Getting stuck in your hero pool
It’s human nature to resist change but it’s also human nature to grow from it. I think feeling stuck is also partly to blame for the frustration that many players have with the game. After a while, even our favorite heroes get stale. The problem is the initial investment of learning a new hero well is fairly painful. This is especially true if it is one that plays in a much different style than your comfort picks.
It can be very hard to go from being competent at something to feeling totally inept, and this is often enough resistance to keep players from straying outside the box. I know I have been guilty many times of avoiding heroes for a variety of reasons only to eventually try them and really fall in love with their uniqueness. Of course, this only ever happens after losing several hundred MMR in terribly confusing, unfun games to learn.
2) Breaking the laning stage
This is a concept that is still only really prevalent in the pro scene. We have been conditioned for a very long time to believe that Dota is a game where two heroes lane top, two heroes lane bottom, and one hero lanes mid. While there have been patches where the distribution of heroes was different, the 2-1-2 laning style has been popular for much of the game’s history. This structure has only been further supported by the role queue system and created a great deal of rigidity to the way many players look at the game.
At the highest level you will see players exiting swapping lanes, dragging creeps behind the tower, or just giving the lane to a support and rotating elsewhere if the current matchup is not a useful one. Dota is a game about adapting to the current situation and the fluidity of pro teams rarely translates to a pub environment. Instead of constantly looking for new plays to gain an advantage, most pub rotations break down to something like, “oh, I’ve been standing in trees for 30 seconds and can’t get a kill here so I’m going to go to another lane at random and do the same thing there.”
3) Rushing to push mid after winning a fight
Mid lane is, without a doubt, the worst lane to push high ground in. It’s also the shortest lane to go down, and this means that it is often the place players will look to pressure after winning a fight. The mid lane is for those incredible against-all-odds moments that go down in Dota history. These moments are actually quite rare. In most cases, a more deliberate approach of controlling the right parts of the map and slowly sieging a side lane will yield better results. It’s not quite as exciting though, so the mistake is understandable.
The shortness of the mid lane is one of the main issues. Pushing in the lane is so easy and that means it’s also easy to push it back for the defending team. Pushing mid creates a lot less map pressure than any of the other lanes because it builds up less of a creep wave advantage. The lane is also more vulnerable to rotate into from either of the side lanes. This means not only is it more dangerous to siege from but it simply wastes less of the opposing team’s time to deal with.
Finally, mid lane is the only lane of Barracks where there are two tier 4 towers directly behind the tier 3. Winning a high ground fight often means diving into the base and in the mid lane this means you end up getting hit by potentially three towers at once. Why fight into a disadvantage when other options exist?
4) Expecting your teammates to do their job
By now many of us have probably played a couple thousand games of Dota at least. We have also likely watched a few professional tournaments and some high skilled streamers as well. As a result, we often expect a bit too much out of the games that we play in the uncoordinated chaos of pubs. There are many reasons why your teammates might disappoint you. Personality clashes, people playing unfamiliar heroes or roles, or someone just having an off day are all part of the regular experience in pub Dota.
Sometimes we have to carry as a support and other times we have to ward as a carry. Expecting your Master Tier Invoker player to dominate the game might be logical but if he just got fired from a job today, there is a good chance he plays like Exort, Exhort, Wex makes a meat pie instead of a meteor. In pub Dota, you always have to be ready to do a little bit extra to win.
5) Disrespect for the community’s general improvement at the game
This one might seem a little weird to list right after number four but it is also an important realization to make. There are very few new players entering Dota these days and that means the majority of the player base has significant experience under their belt. A few years ago hardly anyone knew what pulling was. These days, the average laning stage is a pretty serious contest for last hits and denies.
Dota has become a lot more about the nuances and the macro game and how consistently you can maintain a good mindset to make good decisions. Most players have pretty decent mechanics and at least passable knowledge of their favorite role. Not to sound like a Boomer or anything but back in my day, it was possible to find just one or two very basic things to exploit against most players. These days, if you’re not trying hard you’re probably losing.
no pro league
I start matches by cursing tryhards. Just play well, don't die, help team. No need to tryhard or think you're pro.
@FatherFlanigan That's why you're still in herald bracket in 1000 matches.
@FatherFlanigan this game is not fun if you're not trying hard. In fact nothing is fun in that case. Why are you wasting time doing ANYTHING if you're not trying?
HOHO-HAHA was the worst meta ever.
6.86 was the 2nd
ой щас бы из кожи вон лезть улучшая себя когда за тебя играет обезьяна которая ластпикает сларка в харду или дауненок на 5ке который в 2020 году не знает что нужно сделать отвод чтоб выровнять линию а когда ты ему говоришь то это животное либо сделает отвод на одиночный кэмп слабых нейтралов либо вообще уйдет с линии послав тебя ( ибо это забитое чсв животное которое после слова критики в свой адрес начнет играть еще хуже хотя он и так кусок параши ).
if you are learning heros in ranked then you are a dick. you want to learn a new hero, learn them in unranked, don't ruin other people's mmr
I'm a 3/4/5 and the buddy I play alongside with is a 1/2 carry. ...The other week we played an Unraked match, just so I could get him to play Windranger for once this decade. He kinda liked her, did well with her, I plan to get him to play more Unranked so I can practice more 4/5 heroes myself that I never really practice with. Super fun, even if we 99% only play Ranked.
Habit number one: stop playing Dota
I still love HOHO-HAHA, I feel like people still don't know how to play against this hero
Deep down we all know Dota is a waste of time, only losers play video games. Get a life you all, or you can still play for another 5000 hours and still nothing happen after.
Still stuck playing Jakiro and going with 2 heroes in lane, but it is all fine. I think 3) is a good point to make for many nukers to consider, other than that no need to worry too much if all the mechanics are already in built into instinct.
Another tip is that towers give health regen in a 700 range. So if your hp is low, try to position yourself in range of your own tower to take advantage of the hp regen. If your mana is full but hp is low, one can consider staying under tier 2 tower for hp regen instead of going back to the fountain.
if I like only Mirana, what should I do?
@aikyu3 SuBi you are the only one who needs a life here, we all here are playing for fun
yeah totally forgot that dota is fun, my bad ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Problem is that playing for fun rarely = win.
It is always funny when a carry riki or clinkz player calls supports to ward aggressively in some dangerous places. "I am the carry and warding is just not for me."
The title is all wrong. These are just bad habit all new and old players have them.
As a player that is 14 year in to this game I will suggest you decide if you want to have fun or win TI first.
If the answer is Fun then cool, ignore everything written everywhere and goof around in the game with whatever you like to even Techies.
If you want to win TI then throw your life away and do whatever some one on the internet said.
If I want to spam the same heroes over and over again that means I only like playing those.
If I want to play Techies even if I suck at it then well now, what are you gonna do about it?
Yes this is just a random list of things I just wrote down.
You catching my drift Dotabuff?
Spamming ET pos 3 got me from 4k to 6.2. Don't listen to #1, play what you like, do what you like, and remember that it's a video game and have fun
@aiyu3 SuBi it is fun you dont know how to have fun
привычка матерей ебать
I'm no old head but I had a hell of a time with DotA for the last few months on an epic losing streak. A couple days ago I was doing some soul searching, reviewing my games, questioning why I even play the game. Something clicked. I can only control one hero but my impact on the game is in my hands. Push off and mid harder than the enemy pushes our lanes. Fight on my terms - to win map control, force rotations, and take objectives. Mute negativity immediately. Never stop trying. Always be learning and adapting.
Something changed. A lost lane - an opportunity to overcome the odds. A lost game - a valuable learning experience. A struggling teammate - my comrade and friend. A negative teammate - a silent bot. Every win - a personal triumph. I can lift myself out of the trench. I remember why I love this game. Whether you're playing a match, pursuing your education, advancing your career, supporting your family, or whatever you do, play to win. A match isn't a game. Fuck that, a match is 30 minutes to an hour of your life.
@Dreadnought325
Tier 2 towers grant +3hp regen per second. So you are always better going back to base and bringing items back for your carry (if you ever intend on walking back and suicide isn't an option.)
Or, you ferry regen with your courier, try not to die and gain needed exp by pulling etc.
No need to camp T2's for 30 seconds just to get 90 health back.
@Man Blanket - well said my friend. Exactly how the game should be played in a nutshell. Especially on not throwing, giving up, muting negative assholes etc.
Another point I would like to add is knowing what your win condition is. If you can somehow help your midlaner snowball, he will carry you the game. Sure, if the carry didn't have a good lane, work with your other guys to make space and allow him to become the late-game win condition that your game needs. It's always nice to ask yourself, who is the strongest hero on the map right now, and how do I enable him? If you are that hero, ask your team for help etc.
The problem is Metas arise and people know them like a Dota meme. But the idea of rotating, understanding a lost lane, giving a lane to supports to distribute experience etc . These are things that people don't even know do even in above average mmr. So if you have 60%+ of all Dota players getting mad that you're adapting to the lineup and not sticking to your lane no matter how bad it is going they will get tremendously mad and people don't realize that the choices you make are more "Sandboxy" than other MOBAs.