Guide to playing good Dota: early game analysis skills

Dota 2 requires you to possess many skills if you want to be useful in the game, like understanding how to play heroes and meta. However, there is one skill that is considered more important: the ability to analyze the current state of the game and make sound decisions. This is a very broad topic and we can’t have an answer for all cases, but in this series, this article will help you understand the core structure of Dota 2 so you can develop more game sense and gameplay on your own. myselft.

SELECT LANE

The laning phase starts with starting items and choosing the lane you will go. We’ll start with picking the lane first as it usually determines what starter items you need to build.

Flexibility in lane selection is important. No matter what patch the game is in, we can always take advantage of the early game, to turn it into a much more comfortable mid-game. For that reason, you need to understand the roles heroes are often played and what their tasks are in the first 10 minutes of the game.

In most pro games, you’ll often see a four-player strategy entering the opponent’s territory to compete for the runes, while the carry stays safe in the lane. Some of the most common positions are at tier 1 turrets in safelane or around tier 2 turrets in mid. This way, the carry can find a lane in his favor in case of fear of a difficult lane, but obviously the opponent will do the same.

The moment the carry reveals the lane, the opponent will know which lane to pressure, or the team carry can choose the safest lane. In the early days of professional Dota, teams were very good at hiding information and in the end lanes were split as “normal”. It’s not because the teams agreed to go normally, but it’s because no one made the mistake of leaking lane information.

When mistakes happen and lane information is exposed, the better team will always find a way to adapt by rotating heroes. You should also do it in pub. Knowing your opponent in lane is important, but it depends on the patch. You will have to analyze most of the time from the ban pick phase. In short, the idea behind it is quite simply to do whatever it takes to get an advantage and suppress the opponent’s power.

If your carry can put pressure on the opponent carry or at least still draw lane, while the enemy offlaner is too difficult, then it is better to switch lanes. If your offlaner is good at handling carry and your position 5 is good enough to keep you in the lane for a long time, then a normal lane split is fine. The same applies if the team carry is more profitable against the opposing offlaner.

This sounds like a very complicated system, but it is: Dota is a very complex game and it is difficult to have easy and clear answers. The more experience you accumulate, the more you will evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of lane division and consider choosing the optimal option. At the very least, you try to avoid lanes that fail completely, when the opposing hero is the core of the laning phase.

CHOOSE ITEM

Once a lane is selected and the game starts, there are three outcomes: one is you win the lane, pressure is on the opponent, cores and supports have plenty of room to move and snowball. Second, on the contrary, your team is under pressure and you can only hide from the farm and wait for the opportunity. And finally the game is even, no one has too much advantage and so timing cores with certain items will be a good moment to control the game. Again, with experience, you will know which lane you fall into, the most important thing is to be ready for it.

Not punishing your opponent’s mistakes is also a mistake: if you win the lane and put pressure on your opponent, but not taking full advantage of it, it will probably bring the game back sooner or later. equal. For example, if the team is split farming and playing Ursa in the direction of a draw with the opposing Specter, then you are actually losing, even with a perfect last hit and good denying creeps.

PRESSURE

The three biggest items to choose at the beginning of the game if you want to increase lane domination are Orb of Venom, Blight Stone, and Wind Lace.

With the Orb of Venom, you slow down your opponent, creating the conditions to kill him. It’s best when the lane is already in your favor and you simply need a little extra help to crush the lane completely. Of course, it’s only worth it for melee heroes and certain heroes: when you want Orb of Venom to improve laning. For example, play Anti-Mage by burning the enemy mana first, not giving him a chance to deal damage and you will preserve your life.

Blight Stone is usually bought by range heroes when they can’t instantly kill enemies, but have good physical damage or good trade hits. Blight Stone is very strong against low armor heroes in lane. Heroes like Dazzle and Nature’s Prophet can take advantage of a lot from items. Depending on who the opponent is, it can be purchased by many different heroes. For example, this is an interesting choice when going mid against Tiny, the hero initially has 0 armor. Similarly, support can be purchased if you encounter Phoenix or Skywrath Mage.

Wind Lace is probably the least common item and the least used. It works best with melee heroes and can be used effectively in situations where you have an advantage, but aren’t particularly strong. Usually bought by supports, it allows you to shorten the distance to cast spells while keeping yourself safe. With cores, it’s also not worth starting items even though Blight Store and Orb of Venom are not suitable, because many people will get items that increase stat rather than Wind lace.

UNDER PRESSURE

Defense and healing are the best when your lane is under pressure. Some pro teams have even experimented with both Ring of Regen for carry in lane, especially against heroes like Venomancer.

The most important point in such a lane is that the core survives and sustains itself. Given the way heroes are balanced in Dota, lane dominating heroes are bound to have a hard time in the later stages of the game, unless they take kills and lead with a substantial gold and experience advantage. As long as you stay in the lane, gain experience, and last hit a few creeps, your opponent’s game plan may not come to fruition completely.

Also, the most popular cores these days are usually going to jungle pretty early, so if you can survive and hit level 5 or 6 in a reasonable time you’ve done a good job. If the draft is not completely countered, chances are that the opponent’s carry will be in the same situation. And that keeps the game playable.

LANE BALANCE

This is the most difficult lane to play and requires the highest skill. When you’re in a winning position, you know what to do at all times. When you’re under pressure, you know you need to play to be safer and survive. In the balance lane, everything becomes doubly important.

Such lanes often appear when the two sides do not have clear killing conditions, only relatively hit trades and constantly tugging back and forth is common. There are many options to deal with in this case. Orb of Venem is probably too risky and needlessly proactive while Bight Stone could be the idea because it helps you to profit more when trading hits.

Similarly, Ring of Protection can be the key item at this stage. It balances the trade on your side and increases the hero’s healing efficiency. When you’re taking a lot of magic damage, Infused Raindrops is probably the best companion even though this item isn’t used much in pubs, but is considered the most effective consumable item in certain games.

Wind Lace is also an option. Although it lacks a direct impact compared to the items discussed earlier, items that can be built into Drum of Endurance are very popular these days and are quite cheap. In addition, the writing team also advises you to ignore Bracer as well, at least in this patch because Wraith Band or Null Talisman is much better in 90% of situations, even on Strength heroes.

EPILOGUE

Understanding how to analyze lanes and act accordingly is a very important skill for any pub gamer. Obviously, you don’t necessarily have to get your teammates to change lanes or sacrifice for the good of the team, but you’d be surprised how many gamers even at the highest level don’t think about this.

Courteous communication is the best way: while Dota players are not always gentle, but if winning is what they want, most teammates will listen to a valid point.

According to dotabuff

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