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Learning Curve For New DOTA 2 Players

pauljeremiah

Gold Member
I really want to get into Dota 2 and other MOBAs, but figured I should start with Dota 2. I've heard that the learning curve for Dota was a pretty steep and that it's a game that takes a good amount of time to get used to especially with all the heroes. How forgiving and how easy/hard is the game for new players?

ComposedFarflungBernesemountaindog-size_restricted.gif
 
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mistakable

Neo Member
Community is pretty toxic, that's the biggest curve to learn. Took me 2000 hours to overcome impulsively muting people and learning to be chill all game every game.

Tbf aside from that its hard for the first few games and then not so much after, if you want to be good at the start watch streamers to learn new strategies and things, and play to enjoy!
 

Arsic

Gold Member
I really want to get into Dota 2 and other MOBAs, but figured I should start with Dota 2. I've heard that the learning curve for Dota was a pretty steep and that it's a game that takes a good amount of time to get used to especially with all the heroes. How forgiving and how easy/hard is the game for new players?

ComposedFarflungBernesemountaindog-size_restricted.gif

Honestly if you go down this road you're accepting a life style game. You, especially starting out, cant play other games.

You need to play almost every day, start reading and watching guides, and accept for literally 1000 hours you're in tutorial mode. The last part is memed about but is true honestly.

Your teammates will flame you, and you will be discouraged constantly from every facet to continue.

On the other end of 1000 hours is a game and community you will deeply appreciate and have a blast with when you can truly play it as it is meant to be played. You'll feel like a God.

Personally I gave up at around 600 hours. To me it wasnt worth it.
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
I really want to get into Dota 2 and other MOBAs, but figured I should start with Dota 2. I've heard that the learning curve for Dota was a pretty steep and that it's a game that takes a good amount of time to get used to especially with all the heroes. How forgiving and how easy/hard is the game for new players?

ComposedFarflungBernesemountaindog-size_restricted.gif

Heroes of the Storm is literally Blizzard saying "What if Dota 2, but approachable."

Dota 2, League of Legends, Heroes of the Storm are all great games, but if approachability is your concern go with Heroes.
 

Tschumi

Member
I have a friend who is in the top 1% of Dota players.. I've decided his skills are mine, by association. So I'm exempt from this graph. Without ever having played the game. Hugs n' kisses lol
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
it's not necessarily that the curve is steep, it's that the mountain itself is about 1000 miles high if you want to be competent at the game. I played for a little while but was only making minimal progress at improving my game. Decided I probably didn't have enough years left in my life to reach a level I'd be content with so I stopped playing and simply watch pro tournaments now.

And yeah, the community is more toxic than a superfund site. Once you move on from bots get ready to mute most of the people you play with.
 
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I’ve been playing for 10 years.

Do not play DOTA 2 as a solo player. The community is toxic as hell. That’s coming from someone who hates the word toxic.

There’s lots to DOTA 2 to learn and it’s not small task. Go for it if you hate your personal life.
 
Its a lot to take in but you will be playing with other bad/new players and you'll still be able to feel like you have some impact if you're playing heroes like bristleback, tidehunter, zeus, wraith king, etc.

Like in a fighting game spamming your specials and button mashing doesn't make you a competent player but 2 noobs playing against each other can still feel good about playing the game and figuring things out.

I would only play bots for as long as you're uncomfortable with hitting your main keybinds. Once you're set on clicking around and using spells jump into the real deal because bots do a poor job of mimicking how people will play
 

Maiden Voyage

Gold™ Member
Bots and friends to start. Don't go causing teams to lose matches or you'll hate your life. Understand the mechanics & your character before going pub.
 

Blond

Banned
Play beastmaster, follow the leveling guide and you’ll be set in terms of learning and playing with an OP character
 

Portugeezer

Member
I’ve been playing for 10 years.

Do not play DOTA 2 as a solo player. The community is toxic as hell. That’s coming from someone who hates the word toxic.

There’s lots to DOTA 2 to learn and it’s not small task. Go for it if you hate your personal life.
What's so toxic? Someone say something mean to hurt feelings? Or is it just the sheer volume of cunts?
 

MagnesG

Banned
I really want to get into Dota 2 and other MOBAs, but figured I should start with Dota 2. I've heard that the learning curve for Dota was a pretty steep and that it's a game that takes a good amount of time to get used to especially with all the heroes. How forgiving and how easy/hard is the game for new players?

ComposedFarflungBernesemountaindog-size_restricted.gif
Get into mobile mobas, like wild rift maybe? One game around 15 mins you could learn a lot about the whole minutes of the genre.
 
What's so toxic? Someone say something mean to hurt feelings? Or is it just the sheer volume of cunts?
They’re cunts who will blame you for anything. Even if you win your lane but your teammates lose their lanes they will blame you for something when your team gets steamrolled and report your account.

BTW this is something I found out in the 4.5k bracket (top 10% I think): it’s actually WORSE for you, as a support, to win the early game for your team. It sounds counterintuitive but it’s true. This is because your carries will get overconfident, think the game is over, then proceed to make dumb mistakes. This will flip the game around against your team and, as a support, there’s nothing you can do to win the game yourself. Even when this happens your team will find a way to report you for something. (Reports will send you to low priority queue where lots of angry players get thrown into.)
 
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Gp1

Member
What's so toxic? Someone say something mean to hurt feelings? Or is it just the sheer volume of cunts?

Dota is a probably the most complex competitive multiplayer game around, besides some absurdities like EVE online. It's a finely crafted machine designed to give you imense satisfaction or destroy your morale to the lowest levels if you are a mildly competitive guy. it's probably the most "punitive" game ever and every match last for around 30min to a 1h.

So any mistake that you, as a noob, do for not understanding a single skill (every hero has around 4 or more, that can be "combo-ed" too) in a roster of 119 heroes with different roles has, could really impact the game of another 4 players for almost an hour. And that's just the heroes. Besides that, you need to understand at least basically how the majority of the 208 different itens works and how they interact with themselves and those heroes skills above, how the map works, how the MOBA mechanics works, how the game power tempo works (how each hero peaks in power at different times in a game), etc.

After you learn all of this, you need at least a good hand eye coordination close to a mid level RTS player. Considering that you know how a multiplayer RTS works.

And finally, if you juggled with all of this, for the most part you are still dependent of another 4 angry morons to do the same for you to win a game.

That's why the community is unforgiving and toxic as hell. So if you want to try by yourself, watch some videos online and do with bots.

Even with another 4 friends, i would recommend you to begin to play only if they are very calm, zen and like minded. I've seen a fair share of friendships being thrown away with this game.

Today, i would prefer to learn how to fly a fricking F-14 on a simulation like DCS than learn how to play Dota again. It's like a marriage... if you are in, stay in. If you are not, go enjoy your wild life with something else ;)
 
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Rickyiez

Member
Dota is a probably the most complex competitive multiplayer game around, besides some absurdities like EVE online. It's a finely crafted machine designed to give you imense satisfaction or destroy your morale to the lowest levels if you are a mildly competitive guy. it's probably the most "punitive" game ever and every match last for around 30min to a 1h.

So any mistake that you, as a noob, do for not understanding a single skill (every hero has around 4 or more, that can be "combo-ed" too) in a roster of 119 heroes with different roles has, could really impact the game of another 4 players for almost an hour. And that's just the heroes. Besides that, you need to understand at least basically how the majority of the 208 different itens works and how they interact with themselves and those heroes skills above, how the map works, how the MOBA mechanics works, how the game power tempo works (how each hero peaks in power at different times in a game), etc.

After you learn all of this, you need at least a good hand eye coordination close to a mid level RTS player. Considering that you know how a multiplayer RTS works.

And finally, if you juggled with all of this, for the most part you are still dependent of another 4 angry morons to do the same for you to win a game.

That's why the community is unforgiving and toxic as hell. So if you want to try by yourself, watch some videos online an do with bots.

Even with another 4 friends, i would recommend you to begin to play only if they are very calm, zen and like minded. I've seen a fair share of friendships being thrown away with this game.

Today, i would prefer to learn how to fly a fricking F-14 on a simulation like DCS than learn how to play Dota again. It's like a marriage... if you are in, stay in. If you are not, go enjoy your wild life with something else ;)
Everything I wanted to say about Dota . Thanks

OP you will get more enjoyment in starting with more casual Moba , I actually think Wild Rift on mobile is pretty fun especially playing with friends .

Dota can destroy friendship no joke
 

Sleepwalker

Gold Member
lol, good luck, DOTA and LOL are basically in a no fly zone for me. I already lost years of my life to MMORPGs during the 2000s.
 

Bwesh

Member
I've barely played in the last few years since I had a daughter but don't let the steep learning curve stop you. It's one of the most fun games out there. EVEN if you play solo.

The toxic community is overblown and it's the only game that I believe is truly 100% free to play. All heroes are unlocked from the start, you can practice with bots that are about Legend MMR level.

x4vibtq.jpg
 

FrozenFlame

Member
Its a lot to take in but you will be playing with other bad/new players
That wasn't my experience at all. Played LoL for years and decided to give DOTA2 a try. Let's just say that while I was trying to figure out the inventory, map, mechanics, etc, everyone else there seemed to know what they were doing. Dunno if smurfs or bad matchmaking but it was a fair at all for new players (me).

Honestly OP, don't bother. Like others said, mobas require a lot of your time (especially to learn what each champion does) until you reach the point that you're decent and you actually start enjoying the game. It's even worse if you don't have someone to teach you the ropes.
 
The toxic community is overblown

This. The game is fucking amazing and once you get into and start watching pro DOTA this game will become part of your life. DOTA is just that fucking incredible.

If you would like help on finding a hero to play i can name some of the best designed heroes by the creator ICEFROG. I will give you a small list.

Earth Spirit
Ember Spirit
Pangolier (Probably the best designed hero out of any recent new heroes.)

Ember and Earth spirit are a little difficult to play but i'm sure you'll find something you like.
 
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mxbison

Member
It's a great game but the community is definitely pretty toxic. I don't know if it's really worse than in other games though since it's the only online game I play.

Learning curve is very steep. Watching a few videos how lanes and those things work will help, but you still need to know over 100 heroes and what their skills do + items.

Just try it I guess, it's actually 100% free with no gameplay advantages for money.
 

Boneless

Member
Its toxic, but so is pretty much every team game.

Dota2 = 'mid or gg'
Overwatch = 'no hanzo'
Cs = tk'd at spawn
Etc
Etc

Dota2 is very deep, its mostly learning the skills of the characters, and how you can combine skills. Builds you can pretty much follow from guides, until you get proficient on your own.
 

Kenpachii

Member
Had a friend that wanted to get into the top with dota 2 or league can't remember. then he realized u had people sitting there for 14 hours a day every day for years on end playing the game where he had to compete against.

he bailed faster then light.

Just play some matches when u want and then call it a day, u lose u lose, u win u win. Don't go in there with the idea u going to reach anything tho.
 
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Gp1

Member
t's the only game that I believe is truly 100% free to play. All heroes are unlocked from the start.
Its toxic, but so is pretty much every team game.

Dota2 = 'mid or gg'
Overwatch = 'no hanzo'
Cs = tk'd at spawn
Etc
Etc

Dota2 is very deep, its mostly learning the skills of the characters, and how you can combine skills. Builds you can pretty much follow from guides, until you get proficient on your own.

The main problem is that a CS, Overwatch, etc, match don't last for 1h straight without pauses and a mistake that you did in the 4-5 round of CS doesn't impact the game as much as mistake in the early phase of a dota match. So players are more laid back on these games, even on competitive matches. Trust me, I've played a fair share of both.

Here is where Valve understood how Moba works better than anyone else.

It's impossible to have a Moba F2P game perfectly balanced if some heroes are locked behind a paywall. That's why dota is better crafted for competitive play than any other Moba.

That's some kudos to them, I believe it's the most fair F2P game of the entire industry, with Path of Exile in a close second.

If you guys want to venture that way, at least know that there is a minimum 100-150h of before you begin to understand how the game works. (I think you need 100 non ranked matches before you are even allowed to play ranked. And that explains a lot...)
 
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Bolivar687

Banned
I think the learning curve is actually a reason to play it. Modern gaming is devoid of having to actually learn something you don't understand and to feel a genuine sense of accomplishment as you master each component.

Just embrace it. Definitely start with bots. You don't need to master every hero, just get to a point where you know what you have to look out for from them.

As a counterpoint to some advice above, playing with friends is actually a reason I stopped. Half of us just weren't taking it serious, mostly because some of them had a lot of real life responsibilities. They looked at Dota as time to just fuck around and chill. We were losing a lot as a consequence, and I moved on to other games.
 

.Pennywise

Banned
Valve is way too lazy of a company to create a proper enviroment for new players. That's why DOTA 2 numbers are dwindling by the years. If it's not something that'll bring them 100 millions dollars, they won't waste time on it.

And as such, I recommend to you to do the same and don't waste your time on it. You'll get more bad than good things from it.
 
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V4skunk

Banned
I really want to get into Dota 2 and other MOBAs, but figured I should start with Dota 2. I've heard that the learning curve for Dota was a pretty steep and that it's a game that takes a good amount of time to get used to especially with all the heroes. How forgiving and how easy/hard is the game for new players?

ComposedFarflungBernesemountaindog-size_restricted.gif
The game is cancer through and through.
Complete waste of time and it can hardly be called a game.
 

Rikkori

Member
Honestly it's not so bad. I think a major issue for people who start is trying to know everything immediately rather than enjoying the learning phase as you play the game. Do NOT waste your time reading many guides, as that will put you off the game. Just see a guide for basics quickly and then off with you.

My advice to you is this (I've spent 1000s of hrs in the game and been playing it since it was a new map for Warcraft 3):

1. Learn to last hit - this means deliberately practicing for it rather than just continuously attacking the creep. If you are a carry you last hit the enemy creeps to gain gold, if you're a support you last hit your own creeps to deny the enemy gold.

2. Pick out a hero you like based on your playstyle (magic vs ranged attacks vs melee attacks vs tanks) and use that to familiarise yourself with the game. I recommend trying the following based on the role:
- Clinkz, for ranged attacker. The fire arrows will help you learn to last hit as well as how to 'orb-walk', he has a nice 'steroid' (buff - increase attack speed), and he also has a nice escape and movement skill in the form of invisible fast walking (skelly walk).
- Crystal Maiden, for support/magic user. She has easy to use crowd control & damage, while also providing some utility (aura). Downside is she's squishy so you have to be careful.
- Chaos Knight, for melee/tank. He has a nice stun that's easy to land, has some re-positioning assist (rift), as well as some dmg buff and being overall tanky. He's great for a beginner. Alternatively you can also choose Wraith King.

3. Positioning is very important to the game, almost crucial. Don't sweat it as you will learn it through playing but be conscious of paying attention to how both you, your allies and the enemies are positioned on the screen. A lot of games are won or lost based on this aspect.

4. Take it easy and try co-op vs bots. It's fun and it's a decent learning environment for a newbie. When you do move on to normal games be ruthless with muting/ignoring other players - if they rage and start cursing people out then mute them immediately. The playerbase and the game itself is prone to toxicity of the highest order, and you yourself will fall into the same trap. To really enjoy the game you have to be able to cut people out quick. Don't bother arguing with people - it's just not the venue and no one will listen anyway, so it will just devolve into rage texting paragraphs.

That's it. You don't need to know much to play the game and have fun, everything else will come in time. Remember it's a game you play for fun and not a career, so don't worry too much about 'try hard'-ing.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
Well, you don't need to remember what each of the 100+ heroes, just the 10 in your game right now

At the beginning it'll be much surprise like he can do that ? how ? then you learn the game.

I think between one to 5 bot games to get used to the controls is a good numbers, then dive into the pub games. There's a chat before game begins so you can tell your team you're a newbie and they'l be more reasonable.

Cheers and welcome to dota!
 

TheContact

Member
I played WC3 (and a lot of Icefrog's Dota) but I couldn't get into the game.
I tried LoL and it was the same thing
I played a bit of HoTS which is a super watered-down version of dota/lol but i think it's the most "fun" and I say fun relatively since I don't really enjoy MOBAs that much

i also haven't specifically watched this video but maybe it will help you
 
I didn't get into DOTA until like the 3rd TI or something. didn't even know about the whole MOBA thing before that. I remember I saw they were broadcasting this match and I thought "sounds cool. maybe I'll check it out." it was very interesting and I remember someone was using Doom. seeing him snowballed out was pretty awesome, and I've had dive into the game from then on. there was a while that I play it all the time due to some life and work changes. and even thou I kinda fell out of the game these days, I still look into it from time to time. but as a solo player, I feel you can only go so far for the most part. the game really requires you to have some people you can talk shop and play with. as for if the community is toxic or not, it kinda depends to be honest. you'll always run into shitheads in any game but I find that for the most part if you are playing in unrank and let your own team know you're not very good at it, they would at least not go too crazy on you. but of course, practice with the hero you want to use first. and try to learn a couple other heros incase the one you want got banned at the picking staging. and watch videos and matches. the DOTA2 in game match watching function is great and allows you to get to know how the better players play if you're willing to spend time to really look into thing.

Purge is a pretty good content provider in terms of learning DOTA2 and he has some videos on learning to play and improving. some of the info might be outdated but the core of these videos are still useful. (both videos below are the first of their own series for learning and improving in DOTA2)





 
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A common Insult in dota2 is being told to delete it. The game is good fun and addicting. I’m currently stuck in mmr hell.

i fucking hate Russian players, they’re the worst of the community. Wish this game was region locked.
 

Marchizmo

Member
This. The game is fucking amazing and once you get into and start watching pro DOTA this game will become part of your life. DOTA is just that fucking incredible.

If you would like help on finding a hero to play i can name some of the best designed heroes by the creator ICEFROG. I will give you a small list.

Earth Spirit
Ember Spirit
Pangolier (Probably the best designed hero out of any recent new heroes.)

Ember and Earth spirit are a little difficult to play but i'm sure you'll find something you like.
Lol at telling a brand new play to play Earth and Ember
 
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