Dota 2 CIT Assignment: An Introduction to Dota 2

A Brief Introduction to Dota 2

This is a quick-read intro to what Dota and Dota 2 is and general guidelines for playing.

What is Dota?

D.O.T.A stands for Defense of the Ancients. It is a multi-player online battle arena game commonly known as a MOBA game. Dota was originally a mod for Warcraft III and has now been adapted by the game developer company Valve who released an updated standalone version of the mod called Dota 2. Moba games are strategic multi-player games with a large learning curves making them very competitive e-sports.

Gameplay of Dota

The objective of the game is for each team to destroy the opponents' Ancient, heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. Players use powerful units known as heroes, and are assisted by allied heroes and AI-controlled fighters. As in role-playing games, players level up their heroes and use gold to buy equipment during the mission. There are 3 'lanes' which the AI controlled units, also called creeps, push towards the enemy's ancients or base and towers are positioned to defend against them. Creeps cannot destroy towers on their own unless a Hero has helped in some way to push the lane.

Heroes

Heroes are the essential element of Dota 2, as the course of the game is dependent on their intervention. There are currently 104 playable Dota 2 Heroes. Players are split into two teams of 5, Radiant and Dire, and can select a Hero from a selection panel. Heroes all have different play styles that stem from unique Skills and combinations of attributes making each character more unique than the last.

Over the course of the game, Heroes will accumulate experience points from killing creeps and enemy heroes. Once a Hero has enough experience, they will level up, making them more powerful than before and allowing them to train new Skills. Most Heroes have a distinct Role that defines how they can affect the battlefield, though many Heroes can perform two or more of these Roles.

An early pre-game hero selection menu from Dota 2

Items

Items are objects sold by shops or dropped from certain creeps that provide an ability or a bonus. Most items take up space in a Hero's Inventory, a hero has 6 slots, meaning only a finite number can be carried at one time. Recipe items will automatically remove their components from a Hero's Inventory and Stash when they are assembled. Because of this, strategy and thought is required in the order and selection of items to purchase. The better you play, the quicker your get items.