Dota Auto Chess: In-depth Guide Part 2

In this article we will explore each stage of the game, as well as the most common combos in each of their stages.

Lvl 1-5

The first stage of the game focuses on using buffalo troops, the more buffalo the better. They will help you easily win continuously to increase your gold, thereby strengthening the mid-game.

Don’t forget that you can sell 1-star pieces to get enough gold back. That means you don’t have to keep the early game pieces you’ve invested in. If you see a better hero on your next turn, just sell the old one and buy a new one.

Take advantage of your waiting area. Buy a variety of units (even heroes you don’t currently use) to combine to 2-star later. If you don’t intend to use them later – you can sell them later.

Strategies to start strong

Making sure your forward line is full of tank heroes should be a priority. There are a few ways you can set up the first few rounds.

Warrior:

Ax, Tusk, Tiny, Slardar, Juggernaut

You can easily own many early game warriors and they are very powerful thanks to the armor combo (most of the early-mid game damage is physical). It gives you the opportunity to adopt an all-warrior strategy or switch to an easier mid-late game strategy.

Goblins/Mech

Clockwerk, Tinker, Timbersaw, Bounty Hunter

This is probably the strongest early game lineup – Mech and Goblin combos make your army nearly impossible to die. However, the fact that these pieces have the same class and species makes it difficult for you to switch to another combo.

Druid

Enchantress, Treant Protector, Nature’s Prophet

This is a pretty gold-saving squad because you don’t have to spend a lot of troops to upgrade thanks to the Druid species. The ideal strategy is to upgrade Lone Druid to 2 or 3 stars – this hero is considered one of the strongest tank champions in the game and creates a lot of space for you to prepare a strong squad in the back, from from switching to better combos in the mid-late game.

Having two Beasts (Lonedruid and Enchantress) also gives you the bonus Beast combo. Lycan is the hero that benefits from this thanks to the extra pieces he generates (aside from Lonedruid and Nature’s Prophet) – extra pieces also get bonus damage and they can do a lot of damage if they survive to the end. round. Getting an extra piece with high physical DPS damage (like Terrorblade or Troll) is also an effective tactic if you have a high bonus Beast.

Knight

Batrider, Luna, Chaos Knight, Omniknight, Abaddon

Probably the most difficult strategy to apply (Knights are rarer and often more expensive), but very powerful if you have the necessary pieces. Like the Warrior squad, Knights can fend for themselves (damage from Luna plus items, ability to take hits from other knights, and combos of this Class). In addition, you can switch to other tactics easily like Troll (thanks to Batrider) and Dragon (thanks to Dragon Knight).

Diverse chess pieces

Timbersaw, Beastmaster, Treant Protector, Bounty Hunter, Anti-Mage

Instead of creating combos from the start, you can choose high value pieces: Timbersaw, Beastmaster, Treant, Bounty, etc. DON’T USE low value pieces on the board – you don’t have combos, so need take quality troops to make up for this shortcoming. Some of the heroes mentioned above can start off well in the early game and slowly switch to a more stable strategy in the mid game. This strategy requires a lot of thought – you will have a lot of pieces on the table to consider when to sell or combine, depending on what opens at the beginning of each round.

Lvl 6-7

The mid-game is the most important in terms of economics. Ideally, you’d want to slowly build up as much gold as possible at level 6 to take advantage of the gains. When you reach 50 gold, use any excess gold to upgrade and level up yourself.

Tactic

Troll

Shadow Shaman, Batrider, Witch Doctor, Troll Warlord

4 Troll is considered the strongest combo in the game. Troll Warlord is the most important hero, making this strategy easiest to deploy after the early Knight (thanks to Batrider) or the early Warrior (because Troll is also a Warrior and you can create Warrior combos).

Dragon

Puck, Viper, Dragon Knight

This is a strong group of combo troops. It’s easy to create after only the Knight combo at the beginning of the game, because Dragon Knight 2 or 3-star is the key to the Knight combo. Since you only need three pieces, that means you can save space for other combos (or other diverse minions). A good example is the Mage bonus, if you already own a 2- or 3-star Puck.

Demon Hunter/Demon:

Anti-Mage, Terrorblade, Chaos Knight, Queen of Pain, Shadow Fiend, Doom

If you have a high rank Demon in your squad, as well as Terrorblade/Anti-Mage, find a pair of demon-hunters and then add other strong demons to the squad so that you don’t lose the Demon species bonus. This allows you to use Doom, Shadow Fiend, Chaos Knight, Queen of Pain, etc while still having the Fel Power bonus.

Warlock

Witch Doctor, Venomancer, Shadow Fiend, Necrophos, Alchemist, Enigma, Death Prophet

The main strategy usually revolves around the high level Shadow Fiend.

Warlock is usually a late game combo, but you can take advantage of this Warlock bonus if you prepare early – keep them on the waiting table to create combos later. In order for Warlock’s lifesteal to be effective, you also need the front formation to have enough buffalo and deal high damage.

Assassin

Bounty Hunter, Morphling, Queen of Pain, Slark, Sand King, Phantom Assassin, Templar Assassin, Viper

Assassins are more difficult to deploy because to promote them, you usually have to have 6 combo cards. The easiest way is to apply “Diversity Strategy” early game, when you already have 1-2 high rank assassin (Bounty Hunter, Queen of Pain). High-level Templar Assassins, as well as crowd-control heroes like Tidehunter or Kunkka, will extend the time it takes for Assassins to deal damage.

Mage

Ogre Magi, Crystal Maiden, Puck, Lina, Razor, Keeper of the Light, Lich

You usually stick to this strategy when you already have a high level Razor in your squad. Don’t try to get too many mages in the early-mid game as early game mages are pretty weak – Crystal Maiden and Lina are traps, they easily make you lose if you use them early game. Make sure the front line is strong enough, defend the Mage at the waiting table if necessary. Only apply this strategy in the mid-late game and try to get yourself a 2-star Lich.

Also note that the Mage bonus is very beneficial for other magic damage units – good examples are Kunkka and Shadow Fiend.

Extra tip: if you have high level Puck, using Dragon combo is a great idea. It allows Puck to launch an attack instantly plus Dragon Knight has the ability to take hits. And Viper, although not strong, but deals magic damage with his Ultimate.

Hunter

Drow Ranger, Beastmaster, Sniper, Mirana, Medusa, Tidehunter

Going to Hunter in the mid game is a bit difficult, because the early-mid game hunters (Drow, Sniper and Wind Ranger) are not really strong. However, Beastmaster is very strong: the common way to get 3 bonus hunters is to have Beastmaster, and then to find Medusa + Tidehunter at the end of the game.

Drow can be used to get 2 Undead bonuses, for armor removal is also very good.

Various tactics

Troll, Kunkka, Disruptor, Shadow Fiend, Doom, Templar Assassin

Still using “variety tactics” at this point is very risky – you need to prepare a combo squad to enter the late game. Even if the buff is only 2-3 pieces, it is also very important. Watch out for the bonus species – Naga, Undead, Human. They are strong, easy to get but also easy to ignore.

The cards mentioned above can be played individually. But don’t let that completely ignore the combo. Cards that combine multiple combos are important because they give you more play options. Two good examples are the Witch Doctor (which can continue Troll or Warlock), Necrophos (bonus 2 Undead, and also creates Warlock).

Late game

Lvl 8-10

You can enter this stage with no less than 50 gold if you can draw good troops and know how to manage the economy. If you can do this and win continuously, chances are high that you have control of the whole game. The end, The winner of the game is the one who owns the strongest late-game lineup. Owning that much gold increases your chances of winning, as the extra gold will help you ‘reroll’ more than your opponent and increase your chances of getting the pieces you need more.

However, the above won’t happen if other players start to defeat you convincingly in the mid game. Losing mid-late game will cost you a lot in HP, so think carefully about using gold.

Use all your gold to ‘reroll’. This way, you can level up your troops as quickly as possible – at least there are a few heroes with 3-star and 2-star on the rest. You will often be missing important pieces at this point. In difficult games, you may not be able to afford to store all 50 gold before repeatedly hitting ‘reroll’ to find the pieces you need.

Don’t forget level 10 – an extra piece or two on the board is very important for strategy, especially because of the combos they bring. If you are rich enough and can reach level 10 early, do it to increase your chances of getting rare pieces. Don’t underestimate the power of 5-gold 2-star heroes!

However, if we are in a difficult situation, we can completely win the game at level 9. If you do not have enough strong troops on the waiting table, upgrading to level 10 is really expensive: it does a lot of damage. rather than helpful. It is better to invest gold to reroll and upgrade the pieces you have.

One way to help you decide whether to level up or find the pieces you need is to see how your squad fights against your opponents. If you win comfortably, press the level up button often to reach level 10 before your opponent. If you have difficulty, prioritize the current squad first (but sometimes you also need to add a piece on the board to open a new, better combo).

According to Dotahaven

See more about Auto Chess: