Playing With Purpose

Ideas For Improvement

For a very long time, Dota 2 games seemed very haphazard to me. Some games would involve non-stop fighting while others would end up in staring contests across the river. Sometimes ganks would go smoothly; othertimes they’d fail miserably (even with the same heroes). In this article I want to briefly go over some useful ideas to keep in mind during gameplay. I’ll assume that you’re comfortable with your hero and that your team has reasonable teamwork.

Do note that I don’t intend for this to be a comprehensive article. Rather, I’m hoping to introduce new approaches and perspectives to the game that you can further refine through your own experiences.

Envision Ganks

When ganking, give some thought as to how you’ll execute the gank. How will you get to your target? How will you ensure that you have enough damage? How will your target react? Giving a bit of thought when ganking will make your ganks smoother and more effective.

Sometimes, the answers to these questions will be as simple as face-rushing your opponent. Often times they’re a bit more complicated; you need a certain hero to go in first and to chain your disables. Other times you’ll need to make more intricate plays (baiting out Weaver’s Shukuchi, stunning Dark Seer right after he Surges, etc.). You might also need to rely on hero synergies to properly execute your gank (such as using Bane’s Nightmare to set up Mirana’s Sacred Arrow).

Smart Movement

It’s important to consider your role in your team’s line up, as well as important objectives that you need to accomplish. For example, if you’re a level 8 Clockwerk and you still haven’t made some kind of rotation to gank an enemy hero, you’re probably not being as effective as you should be.

Here are some examples of the kind of movement you might want to make:

Supports should rotate to other lanes and gank when reasonably possible. Even better, gank a particular lane to either shut down and important hero or to ensure that an ally has a good start.

Shut down snowball heroes before they start snowballing. Heroes such as Slark, Templar Assassin, and Storm Spirit are much easier to deal with when you can shut them down.

Similarly, it’s often easier to shut down the enemy carry earlier than later.

Move to other lanes to facilitate a push. This is more important when your team has an “unstoppable” type push involving heroes such as Chen, Nature’s Prophet, and Enchantress.

Switch lanes to give yourself a better lane or to give your opponent a difficult one. Many melee carries won’t be pleased to have an opposing Viper in their lane.

Make things happen once you pick up your ultimate. Heroes like Clockwerk or Lion should look for a kill, preferably on an important hero. Shadow Shaman should call out and coordinate pushes whenever Mass Serpent Wards are off cooldown.

Stay Aware

There are many things to keep track of, but in this case you should always keep in mind the skills and items that your opponent has at their disposal. If you don’t know where an opposing hero is, consider that they might suddenly show up! Pudge hooks, Mirana arrows, and Clockwerk hooks are all things that you should bear in mind. Sometimes, these threats require retreating and sacrificing some farm. Other times, you just need to make sure that it’s difficult for your opponent to initiate on you (for example, by ensuring that your creeps are protecting you).

Another important thing to stay aware of is your job in a team fight. If the other team has an Enigma, it might be your job to save your disable to stop his Black Hole. If you’re playing Doom, it’s usually important that you pick your Doom target wisely.

A third thing to bear in mind is the entire range of abilities available to your opponent. As you’re running away from a team fight, be aware of long-range sniping skills such as Windrunner’s Powershot, Clockwerk’s Rocket Flare, or Ancient Apparation’s Ice Blast. When you’re jungling, remember that the enemy Bloodseeker can see you once you fall below 50% health. Remember that standing right next to your Storm Spirit could mean taking quite a bit of damage if Anti-Mage gets a good Mana Void on him.

Itemize Smartly

Consider your team’s weaknesses and your opponent’s strengths as you decide on your items. Certain heroes on the opponent’s team can essentially require you to get a particular item. For example, if your opponent has a Clockwerk then someone on your team should get a force staff. If your team is lacking disables, a scythe of vyse, Eul’s scepter, or skull basher should be on your radar.

As you become more comfortable with this, start itemizing based on how well your team is doing and the likeliness of your opponent to pick up certain items. If you’re up against a hero that’s likely to pick up a radiance, consider going for a force staff instead of a blink. If you’re carrying against a Luna who only has treads, drums, and a helm, you can probably go for whatever item you originally intended to build. This is even more true if your team’s been winning fights and this is all Luna has at 27 minutes in. On the other hand, if Luna has treads, drums, helm, BKB, and a manta style, you need to start considering an MKB as she’ll almost certainly be building satanic and butterfly (in some order) as her next two items.

Ward Objectively

Try to keep in mind what everyone on your team wants to accomplish at the given moment and to ward accordingly. Sometimes you need to catch ganks, other times you need to make it safer to execute split pushing. Bear in mind that intelligent ward placement is as important, if not more so, than knowledge of ward spots.

There are many warding guides available if you search for them. I have a beginner guide here and a more advanced guide here.

Keep Objectives In Mind

Stay aware of what your team needs to accomplish at a given point.

If all of your cores need to farm, it might not be the right time to coordinate a gank.

When you’re pushing a tower, remember that you don’t necessarily have to engage in a team fight in order to take down the tower.

After you’ve taken down a tower, you should leave if there’s no other obtainable objectives in the area.

If you’re a necessary part of your team’s push, you probably need to join up with your team instead of farming or warding.

Understand Your Hero

Playing your hero without knowing their typical play style and purpose will likely cause you to be extremely ineffective. You can watch streams, live games, or replays to better understand how your hero should be played. You can also look for guides or discussions online, but be aware that the advice may be outdated or misinforming.

Develop Killer Instinct

In short, this means understanding when you can and cannot get your intended kill. If you know you have the ability to get a kill, you should probably go for it. On the flip side, if you know you don’t have enough to finish the job, it’s probably a waste of your time to go for that kill.

Professional games are a good resource to develop this instinct; you’ll likely see cases where one or more players realize they have enough to go for a kill and immediately capitalize on it. This instinct also develops over time through experience. The more you play and push limits, the better you will understand the capabilities and limitations of your hero.