From Noob To Pro: DOTA 2 Introduction - I Will No Longer Be A Feeder!

By no means am I an expert on DoTA or any of the MOBA genre games. While I might be a huge strategy game fan, MOBA games tend to infuriate me. I tend to overextend myself too often and get labelled a 'feeder', 'noob', or just 'a problem'(things that cannot be printed... or rather posted in this blog). Often, I thought that games such as DoTA required less micro since the focus is on one hero rather than an army of tiny footsoldiers like an RTS. Not quite... in this new series, From Noob To Pro, I'll be taking you through my trials and tribulations. Learning a game to become decent in it. Perhaps... there'll be cake at the end of it.



We've all had a game that we just plain sucked. If some effort went into practising and having the perseverance to learn, we could at least get decent at it. By no means I plan to go pro, but to become a decent gamer. For the debut game for this series, I decided to jump into DOTA 2, Valve's, sequel to the popular Warcraft III mod.

DOTA 2(like DoTA) has a tonne of heroes. There is no way I'm going to be good in all of them. So for the purpose of this feature, I'll be playing mainly three heroes; one a strength hero, an agility hero and an intelligence hero. Not quite sure which to pick(send in your suggestion in the comments) but I've gone with the three below:

Tiny 

I've played two games with Tiny. A hero with no real ultimate and the thing about him(or it) is to level up and grow. Becoming stronger and tougher. A level 1 tiny is a puny little thing and rather fragile. With enough of creep killing Tiny grows into a behemoth. Plus avalanche is an awesome stun ability.

Sniper 

I've only been sniped countless times by the bots when I played DOTA 2. Only faced the Sniper and fear his snipe like a fear ponies... Damn it! my secret is out! Bloody overpowered. Would be a decent hero to learn for a noob.

Enchantress

I have no idea what the Enchantress is about. She's all about nature and slowing things down it seems. plus she's green and looks like a hippy... I rike! Will play the Enchantress the next time I play DOTA 2.







I don't even have any idea what the listed roles for these heroes even mean; initiator, carry, and pusher. Either way I'm only exploring DOTA 2 now to get better and understand the game. I have a disastrous tendency to be too gung ho and go all out with my attacks getting decimated by enemy heroes too often. I believe the official term for such a player is a feeder. Yes... I'm a feeder. Unfortunately no food involved(mmm... yummy... all of a sudden, I have the thought of muffins!). I've underlined three key things that I must do to get better and understand DOTA 2:

1. PRACTISE, practise, practise. I'll have to play DOTA 2 at least 3 to 4 times a week. I can't commit to playing it every night, so this is the best that I can commit to. By getting regular play with my chosen heroes, I should be improving.
2. Play with friends that know a thing or two about DOTA 2. Not much of an issue. I know people who play DOTA 2 often and they know a lot more about it than me. Like how to bloody equip equipment you buy from the shop... yes embarrassing but how the hell does a newbie know right clicking equips it!
3. Read general strategies on DOTA and learn the vocabulary behind it. Feeder, ganking, pusher... who comes up with these stuff? They have no relevance to the RTS genre(except for maybe pushing). I'm going to have to get used to the words and learn some good tips. Tips that are not hero specific. I'd rather learn about a hero by playing it.

My objective is not to improve on my stats (win/loss etc) or even become a real pro, but to be decent at DOTA 2 instead of just plain sucking. As I go through my journey of learning DOTA 2( a genre that I've been completely blind to and have not really liked much to be honest), I'll share with you what I've learnt and my progress of how I'm doing at it. If you're good at DOTA 2, you might not actually learn anything new from my amazing 'revelations' but you are free to share your tips and hints for a newbie. Until the next From Noob To Pro post(might be next week), happy ganking!... well I think that's a good thing right? I certainly hope so.