An Introduction for new players interested in trying out Dota 2:
Dota 2 is a game that is absolutely free to play. It is the sequel to the Warcraft 3 mod that started off the Dota series. As with any other game in my opinion, it's easiest to start off on this game if you already know a group of friends that play it. For anyone else that don't have friends that they know that play it, I have some tips below.
When you start out, do the tutorials. Afterwards, do an offline match against bots with bots team mates. What will make the transition into what you're supposed to easier, you'll see a book symbol in the top left corner of your screen. Click on this book, click on the arrow in the upper right side of the box that appears after you have click the book. Select a build that is among the highest rated and ideally has the current patch number on it. So anything 90% or higher for example. Select the build then click on the book again to get back to the normal game. By choosing pre made builds, you'll waste less time buying the wrong items. Over time you will begin to make your own builds but it helps to know where you should start before you even decide to go into the deeper waters and do that.
The next thing you should do is start doing bot matches with human team mates. You'll search for co-op bot matches. This will begin to teach you team work. You should start off with an easy to use hero that doesn't have many skills to keep track of. Some examples of these are Viper, Wraith King, or Chaos Knight if you want to play a carry role. An easy to play support role would include a hero such as Crystal Maiden.
Before you start to do public matches where it's humans vs humans, I suggest you at least try every hero once in bot matches. This is because you'll be less likely to be surprised once you get attacked by a skill or an ability that is not something you have yet seen.
What you'll encounter in the community once you venture into real matches:
In the Dota 2 community like any other community you'll encounter players that are helpful and you'll encounter players that are toxic. Toxic players can be discouraging for someone new to the game. This is why I suggested above attempting to get familiar with many of the heroes so players are less likely to be toxic to you.
However, toxic players will still be encountered even if you do everything correctly. In cases like these, there is a mute function available and also you have the ability to report other players that are being abusive. If they receive enough reports within a certain time frame, they will be punished for their actions.
What is really important in real matches is to call missing when enemy heroes that are supposed to be in your lane aren't there. This can be done by alt + left clicking on the portrait on the top of the hero that is missing. The purpose of this is so that one of your team mates isn't killed by a hero that is supposed to be in your lane. This allows your team mate to knowledge that he may be ganked (which is basically known as getting jumped unexpectedly).
Final words:
Dota 2 is a rewarding game once you learn how it works. Be friendly to others and you'll make new friends and will have more trusted team mates to queue with in matchmaking. Don't get discouraged if you keep dying when you first start out. Your map awareness and the boundaries of your hero's limitations will become more easily recognized over time. If you do decide to stick it out, good luck and I hope you're able to have lots of entertainment.
- All the heroes are free to play.
- The things that cost money are mainly cosmetics for the game and tickets to watch professional teams in tournaments.
- Ranked matches use a match making rating system (MMR) in order to put you up against other players of an equal estimated skill level.