DotA Player - Opinions on Different Heroes, Items, Teams, Strategies, and Techniques

Last Hit and Deny

2007-10-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

During my early days of playing DotA, I'm not aware of this two things. Before, I just focus on hitting those creeps even without noticing that money is earned when you inflict last hit. Also, I don't kill my own creeps because my focus is more on leveling up. Eventually, as we play over time, finally some of us get aware of this things which we lately know that it is very valuable.

In last hitting, you will farm fast and earn money. In denying own creep, the enemy hero laned with you will gain only 1/4 of the full experience a single creep will produce. With this system, your laned enemy hero will greatly suffer for it will not earn money and experience. As we all know, gaining experience and earning money is the most important things that you must have in playing DotA.

Imagine, excelling in this two things will produce an outstanding outcome. In order to acquire this last hitting and denying capability of a player, I suggest that you must practice doing it. Now, when you are used to do those things, you will be the most difficult player ever to be laned with.

Venomancer 1 on 1

2007-10-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

Choosing Venomancer on 1 0n 1 takes a lot of risk especially when the enemy is a disabler or nuker. I consider it lucky when it faces off a strength or agility type hero for the fact that almost all strength type heroes are melee ranged which gives a lot of advantage to Venomancer and agility type heroes which has low quantity of life and also favorable to him.

In my experience of using Venomancer, I found some way to match up with those disablers and stunners in 1 on 1 matches. I take advantage of casting Plague Wards which has a fast cooldown, low mana cost, and can't be damaged by spells. In my observation, the max Plague Wards you can use is 7-8 and imagine, each of them inflicts 42 damage and has a fine attack speed. With this advantage, creeps tends to attack the wards instead of you, and the effect is that you hold the lane by that ward. The main purpose of this wards is winning the game, not to kill enemy hero. Too bad for the enemies, the wards has much life and not that easy to kill. Just let me add some few tips, Plague Wards are affected by Mekansm, which means they are affected by Mekansm's instant life restoration. Isn't that great?

Continuing the process of casting Plague Wards, the effect would be winning the game with lots of great items to Venomancer. This strategy is also a good farming technique. You got a very high chance of last hitting creeps and even towers. Also, if you want to kill Roshan with ease, just use Plague Wards again and let him attack the wards. Don't forget to continue casting wards until Roshan dies.

These are the items you might end up with Venomancer in this strategy:

Linken's Sphere
Boots of Travel
Butterfly
Mjolnir
Buriza
Aghanim's Scepter

Priestess of the Moon: What Orb Effect to have?

2007-10-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

In my experience of using Priestess of the Moon Mirana, at first, I spam her skill Starfall to farm and target to buy first some useful items like Vanguard for much life and later replace it with better items. Now, the question is, what orb effect item is very suitable for Mirana? Here is the following list and description on how it effects Mirana in the game:

Skadi - As we all know, having Skadi on the item slot gives such great aura on the hero when it has one. If Mirana has Skadi, it is very beneficial on her because it affects her offensively and defensively in the game. The Frost Attack is very useful for taking down enemies. At the same time, Skadi gives her lots of life and mana to spam all her useful skills.
Sange & Yasha - This item on her gives just a medium positive effect. Maiming enemies is great but its only by chance, unlike the Frost Attack which is per hit. She will acquire attack speed, movement speed, life, and some damage. Well, as one of the user of Mirana, Skadi and Sange & Yasha are stocking with range heroes. Obtaining both items is surely very beneficial on Mirana. Imagine the convenience on having both items on her.
Maelstrom/Mjolnir - Ok, lets talk about Mjolnir in here. Having this item gives only a very offensive effect on Mirana. This item gives huge additional damage, a good passive chain lightning on enemies only by chance, some armor, and attack speed of course. In my opinion, the purpose of having this item is purely through farming.
Desolator - Now, isn't this the cheapest among my list of orb effect here? Having Desolator on her is such a waste of time and money. This has nothing to do with her and even help to win in the battle. This is purely a self-fish item for me. This is just an item that increases your attack damage, that's all. I bet you can't kill enemy hero with this item on her.

That is all my opinion on such orb effect item possible Mirana might have in the game. Its up to us of course what item is more suitable with her. Also it all depends on the flow of the game, so better check the environment first before doing such act.

MoM or SnY on Barathrum?

2007-10-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

As for a Barathrum hero user, here's my usual build on him:
Bracer - Heart of Tarrasque
Bracer - Radiance/Black King Bar
Sange & Yasha
Vladmir's Offering/Linken's Sphere
Battlefury
Power Treads/Boots of Travel

For this build, I can manage to wander around the map and gank on enemy heroes easily. Obviously, HoT is for life purposes and a bit of damage. BKB is for anti spell. Sange & Yasha for attack and movement speed of course. Vladmir's for life steal, or linken for the better. Battlefury for pushing, and treads or BoT for movement speed purposes. I choose SnY on Barathrum because it has much more benefits than MoM. SnY for me is one of the must have items of Barathrum because it helps its skills and also increases his life. Also the maim effect is perfect for him. The MoM only gives life steal, attack speed, movement speed, that's all and its only temporary. As you can see, SnY is a beneficiary item for Barathrum.

Inside the Serpent Wards

2007-09-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

Are you wondering why there is a space upon casting the Serpent Wards of Rhasta the Shadow Shaman?Well, for me, its originally made to trap someone inside of it to feel the massive damage of all the spitting wards. Now, anyone guess how to trap an opponent inside those wards exactly and accurately? For a team-to-team battle, its easy. A stunner is needed to execute this play. Once the opponent gets stunned, just cast directly the Serpent Wards onto it. And by means of solo performance, meaning executing this play with just Rhasta alone, you will be needing a Eul's Divine Scepter. Simply cast Cyclone to the opponent then cast Serpent Wards while still in the Cyclone. You will notice that the Cyclone with the opponent is in the middle of the Serpent Wards. Don't forget to control the wards. Simply select all of them then press the right-click button upon the opponent inside the Serpent Wards. After doing those, you are free to disable the opponent and give all you got to kill it. That's one of a hell killing techniques by Rhasta.

Obsidian Destroyer Domination

2007-09-11T12:19:00.000-07:00

Harbringer is an int type hero. Has an attack range of 600. Got powerful offensive skills namely Astral Orb and Sanity's Eclipse. Now for the discussion, Harbringer originally created to boost its int for the main reason that it will surely pump him to a pure offensive player. His skill Astral Orb is a mana base magic attack. It deals a certain percentage damage remaining on the current mana. For level 1, 6%, level 2, 7%, level 3, 8%, and for level 4, its 9% remaining mana. Imagine the addtional damage for a certain attack that Harbringer will deal to the enemies. Also, his ultimate skill Sanity's Eclipse is base on the quantity of int that Harbringer has. The skill has a formula of how it will damage the enemy heroes. But I will not expalin it here, I suggest to just focus on pumping the value of mana and int of Harbringer. These are the items that will surely leave your opponents hanging around the tavern:

Mystic Staff (3 of this) - imagine one Mystic Staff provides +25 int. And you have 3 of them.
Aghanim's Scepter - such perfect item for Harbringer. Provides int and lots of mana.
Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse - helps in escaping or preventing to escape enemies. Also provide lots of int and mana.
Power Treads - basically for attack speed purposes because if you have this great items on Harbringer, any hero will be going to the tavern in a matter of seconds.

Deadly Chicken

2007-09-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

I know for some reason that us DotA players are experimenting item and skill combinations with our favorite heroes. But does any of us try to include in our combination the 'Deadly Chicken'? Well, as we all know, chickens' main purpose is to hold items for us and buy items for us if we are not in the base. In my experiment, I upgraded my chicken into a Flying Courier to be able to move fast. Then, something comes into my mind to build a Dagon for it. I even upgraded it to level 5. Well guess what, it can kill a wounded hero escaping and even made a lot of 'kill-steal'. This strategy is not advisable for serious games. But it all depends on the player of course. Surely this will make a lot of fun in the game.

Dagger of Escape

2007-09-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

The item that lets the bearer teleports a short distance. Perfect for escaping or chasing an enemy. Having this item makes a lot of advantage against your opponents. Now, who are the heroes that best fit for this item? Here is the list of heroes that, in my opinion, got to have Dagger of Escape:
Earthshaker - perfect for his ultimate skill Echo Slam. Blink-in in the middle of the mob then cast it.
Sand King - casting Epi Center first then blink-in to the enemies. Definitely need to do some practice on this for better result.
Crystal Maiden - teleporting in the middle of the mob then cast Freezing Field. The same as Earthshaker.
Enigma - perfect for his ultimate Black Hole. Same procedure as Earthshaker and Crystal Maiden.
Magnataur - same as Enigma, Earthshaker, and Crystal Maiden. Perfect for Reverse Polarity.
Bradwarden - good for his Hoof Stomp to stun enemies more accurately when used strategically.
Slardar - same as Bradwarden. For better result in his Slithereen Crush.

2-on-2 with Bane Elemental

2007-09-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

I am really having a hard time fighting 2-on-2 with Bane Elemental. Its not like I am a noob but its the skills of Bane Elemental that tears me off. A hero that has fast attack speed or has a skill that inflicts high damage is good to team up with Bane Elemental in 2-on-2. Now, picture this strategy, when the players collide, Bane will cast Nightmare on one of the enemies, then cast Fiend's Grip on the other. Once it is executed well, the ally of Bane will focus its attack on the enemy that has been casted Fiend's Grip and of course will result to be getting killed. After that, its a 2-on-1 battle. Obviously the remaining hero is outnumbered and will definitely do nothing unless it has any skill or items that will help to escape from those two. Dagger of Escape and Lothar's Edge are some example items. As we see, any hero is good to team up with Bane Elemental. Of course, it all depends again on the player. If he/she is a good DotA player, well, they will surely win the game using Bane Elemental.

This are the items for Bane Elemental that will surely dominate the game:

Dagon 5
Linken's Sphere
Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse
Vanguard / Heart of Tarrasque
Eye of Skadi
Power Treads / Boots of Travel

Obtaining such items will surely result to win the game. Even Bane Elemetal alone can handle two enemies at the same time with this items. For sure, you will be remembered by your enemies after playing.

Raigor Stonehoof

2007-09-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

Earthshaker is definitely one of my favorite heroes in DotA. His skills are very powerful and useful in team-to-team battles. Proudly speaking, he can withstand multiple numbers of enemies and can even kill them all in just a blink of an eye. I considered Earthshaker spammable because he uses all skills actively just like an intelligence type hero. The thing that I love about Earthshaker is that he is a strength type hero which means he has lots of life. Earthshaker is a late gamer hero. At first, it is hard to manage him because he can easily get killed by any hero which has spam skills or fast attack speed. For the best Earthshaker, he must have the following items.

Linken's Sphere
Vanguard / Heart of Tarrasque (2 or 1 of each)
Dagger of Escape
Power Treads / Boots of Travel
Eul's Scepter of Divinity / Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse

Having this items on Earthshaker will dominate the game. But, it all depends in the player on how to use Earthshaker with this items. If used correctly, it will result to win the game. And trust me, I know the feeling in winning the game using Earthshaker with this items on him.

The Best Game Modes

2007-09-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

There are lots of game modes available in playing DotA. I tried almost all of them including the game modes in AI maps. When playing together with friends, we try different game modes each set of game so that we will never get bored. We tried -as, -ai, -aa, 'as' stands for all strength type heroes only, 'ai' for all intelligent type heroes only, and 'aa' for all agility type heroes only. We love the game modes like -dm for deathmatch, -id for item drop, -sc for super creeps, and -sh for same heroes mode. We enjoy all of those game modes. It brought us a lot of laughs by calling someone else's names, and embarrassing opponents either teammates. As for serious games, when we are playing with other people, we take the game seriously. It is a rare occasion that someone will say a joke while we are playing. For serious games, as usual the game modes are either -ar or -ap or -tp. 'ar' means all random, it randomly selects heroes each of the player. 'ap' means all pick, player is free to select a hero on taverns. 'tp' means team pick, player can only choose a hero either he/she is on scourge or sentinel side. Always keep in mind that we all play just for the sake of playing and learning new strategies, techniques, and combinations because that just that how we play as DotA players.

Eye of Skadi - Orb Effect?

2007-09-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

As we all know, the items Sange, Sange&Yasha, Mask of Death, Helm of Dominator, Mask of Madness, etc., any item that has an orb effect do not stack when you have two of them in your hero's item inventory right? According to the item description of Eye of Skadi, it is an orb effect. But have anyone notice, once you have it in your hero's item inventory, the orb effect text disappear. Does this mean anything? In my experience, I bought another orb effect item. I choose to have Sange&Yasha because of the chance to maim enemy. As a result, every time my hero attacks an enemy, the enemy status shows that he is being slowed by freeze effect and at by chance, the enemy is maimed. This does mean that Eye of Skadi and Sange&Yasha that are both orb effects is stacking? For me, this is a powerful combination of items especially for those ranged hero that has high attack speed. Having both of this items will surely become "beyond Godlike".

Other Secret Shops

2007-09-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

In an updated map of DotA, I think it was in v6.40 or v6.41 map, they added two secret shops that is located in the upper left of hte map, behind the dark trees, and on the lower right of the map that is also behind the trees. I was really excited to know that they added a secret shops on those areas which give us DotA players another strategy. I thought that they have the same content of items that the two original secret shops. I was wrong. For me, this two other secret shops is useless. I don't bother my self attempting to buy on those shops because all their items can be bought at the base. I don't see the idea to put two other secret shops on those areas. Well, maybe I don't know yet. But I will keep on trying new strategies that has something to do with those other secret shops. I hope that I will find some to try it together with my friends.

dota

Alchemist 1-on-1

2007-08-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

Base on experience, I used Alchemist in a one-on-one match with Bane Elemental. As a result, I win the match without dying and losing a tower. Its not like that my opponent is too noob to use Bane Elemental, in fact it is his favorite and he uses it well. And we all know that Bane Elemental is one of the best heroes in one-on-one matches. Now, here's what happens, before we start the battle, I know that I can't kill Bane Elemental because of the insufficient capabilities of Alchemist, meaning he is used only to tank. My plan is to build up Alchemist, trying to produce items that will harden him up. With the skill called Acid Spray and Goblin's Greed, the in-flow of money is fast and I manage to buy items at an early time. Obviously, Bane Elemental can't stand out my Acid Spray. Even though he use Brain Sap, my life regeneration is just too fast to fill up because of Chemical Rage, it improves the life regeneration rate of Alchemist fabulously and a bonus Hit Points also. As we go on playing, my Alchemist is always full of health that it never returned to the base to heal. Isn't that a great match? No one was killed during that match except for the hundreds of creeps that keeps on spawning.

My Three-Man Team

2007-08-31T12:11:00.000-07:00

For me, maybe one of the best three hero combination in DotA are Sven, Vengeful, and Jakiro. Sven being the 'tank' and killer of the team, Vengeful and Jakiro being a support type and play-setter. Using this heroes strategically will dominate the game fast. In my opinion, this three is made to do some 'fast game', meaning, beating the game fast. Once they have their appropriate items on, God knows where their opponent's destination would be. So what do you think? Better try this off with your team games.

Vengeful Spirit

2007-08-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

Vengeful is definitely one of my favorite heroes in DotA. She is very useful in team-to-team battles. I considered her as one of my favorites because you can dress her up with multiple builds. Meaning, there are many powerful combinations for her skills and items. Other heroes unfortunately has only one or two powerful and useful combinations. Her useful skills will dominate the game if used strategically.

My favorite build for Vengeful is support type. It has lots of benefits for you especially for the team. Her skills are so useful that all of them should be selected and maxed out. Her swap-stun combo is unbeatable especially when executing a backstab play. Command Aura and Terror are useful for pushing lanes. Simply buying Mekansm and Ring of Basilus or Vladmir's Offering for the better will surely pump your creeps up. Its like they are so called "Mega Creeps". The creeps near Vengeful now has increase damage, increase defense, life and mana regeneration, and the best of all is lifesteal.

This are the items for support type Vengeful which I definitely want to have:

Mekansm
Vladmir's Offering
Arcane Ring
Assault Cuirass
Sange&Yasha
Power Treads

Vladmir's Offering

2007-08-31T11:37:00.000-07:00

The time that I notice that there is a new set of items on DotA, I immediately try all of them on my favorite heroes. But one of them I considered the coolest item, the Vladmir's Offering. The ingredients of the this item are Ring of Basilus, which is created from Sobi Mask and Ring of Protection, Mask of Death, and the recipe. In my opinion, the cost of the recipe is a bit expensive, but I think it is worth it because of the useful attribute of the item. The attributes of Vladmir's Offering are +5 Devotion Aura, 0.80 mana regeneration, 16% life steal aura for melee (my favorite), and +12 damage aura. Take note that even this item has a life steal aura, it is not an orb effect item. Look at those things! Isn't this item great or what?! It means that this is a great item for those heroes that has fast attack speed and of course a melee type to posses life style attribute.

My list of heroes that I love to have a Vladmir's Offering on their item:

Troll Warlord
Barathrum
Broodmother
Magina