Guide to playing good Dota: late game analysis skills

This will be the last part in a series of tutorials on analyzing and making decisions at different stages of Dota 2. This time, the article will focus on Late Game. Not every game gets to this stage and in almost every match, the outcome is already decided, i.e. the mid game phase. But also for that reason, many inexperienced gamers really have trouble making decisions at this stage. The article will not be able to solve the problem immediately because this requires the accumulation of experience, but hopefully will help you find the right path.

ROSHAN IS THE KEY TO WIN, MAP CONTROL IS THE KEY TO WIN ROSHAN

This is why most professional teams don’t risk hitting the high ground without Aegis, despite having a sizable Networth lead. Once the team has complete control of the map, there’s no reason to rush through the game and lose your Net Worth advantage.

With the team in the lead, playing carefully when there’s no objective on the map is paramount. No matter how much Net Worth a team leads, the strongest heroes can still die in a 1v5 situation. It’s an obvious fact when teams become greedy and subjective, trying to split players in all three lanes at the same time.

This is the most exploitable bug, especially around the time Roshan shows up. A dead support will cause an imbalance on the map for a period of time. This is true even if the support hero only has 2k net worth and the team that is in the lead has a 10k+ advantage.

Never forget about position. The more you have the advantage, the more freely your squad is allowed to hit because the team will have more reaction time (because of more map control). But remember, support is still support and can die in a flash. So choose a safe location on the map.

Map control doesn’t mean you need to control 100% of the map, unless the team has completely ‘beaten’ the opponent. Choose a safer way to play: control two lanes, push turrets in a favorable lane and keep positions close together. More importantly, at the time of Roshan’s arrival, you need to prioritize lanes near Roshan, especially later in the game, when high-potential heroes have already made Boots of Travel.

CONSIDERATION ON TARGET EXCHANGE

In theory, the best way for the leading team to continue to increase their gap is to play two lanes, meaning the losing team still has a small space to exploit. Pay attention to the enemy heroes present on the map: if you see two enemy cores farming in two different lanes, you can safely take the third lane and farm.

Economically this is not an ideal situation, but as discussed in the previous article, it is better than teamfight in a suicidal way. Controlling Roshan will become much more difficult, if the opponent forces you to only operate in the bot lane.

This is where turret pushers really shine. Heroes that deal quick and effective turret damage are not only important in normal push situations, but they also have a lot to do with macros. Specifically in this case, you need to attract the attention of your opponent to an area in the map. If there are good turret threat heroes, the enemy will lose some map control and also the gold difference will shrink. In addition, it also reduces the pressure of the whole team when the enemy has to withdraw to defend and reset the squad.

In the worst case scenario, you would trade Roshan for a single target, preventing the Net Worth gap from continuing to grow. The best situation is when the opponent disperses the formation, making it easier for your team to handle them. However, be aware of the worst case scenario: when the fake opponent has just eaten Roshan and reacts with full force. This is where visibility becomes very important as it will allow you to retreat safely to prolong the game.

Finally, a note about map control: while Top and Mid turrets are the most important when it comes to map control since they’re closer to Roshan, bot barracks are often the best place to clear first, due to opponents. It will take a long time to rotate from Roshan to bot lane. Note this when you try to break the high ground. On the Dire side, the bot lane is usually the best lane to push, as it opens up the opponent’s jungle area. So, if you get a chance to do it in the early and mid game, try to at least eat the ranged barracks, in terms of macros it’s well worth it.

ECONOMIC DISTRIBUTION

The last point to note is how the team distributes gold and farm. Carrying pos 1 with a little more gold to buy a few items and a little more stats is often not worth the support of an important item.

This does not mean that you have to sacrifice farming, for example if the carry needs MKB to handle Phantom Assassin, then the item will play a very important role in the damage done by the teamfight. But the situation of selling Battlefury to get an item like Mjollnir is probably not worth it and you should give the farm to support. Of course the difference in effectiveness is there, but it’s not worth it compared to Disruptor’s green stick or surprise items like the Glimmer Cape.

Economic distribution is important, especially in the later stages of the game. At this point, the game no longer focuses much on the stats that the items bring, but on the items that are decisive to turn the tide of a combat phase. In most situations, the extra damage given to a hero with a high DPS available won’t be as good as a support item on a support. Think about where the team’s next 5k gold should be invested with the best and reasonable results.

EPILOGUE

This article wraps up the Dota 2 Phase Analysis series of tutorials. Dota is an incredibly complex game and we’re probably not even 20% of the way professional players know it yet. Hopefully this article has partly helped you understand more about the game’s tactical array.

You can read more about the first part of the series