Dota 2

Dota 2 is the successor to the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients developed by members of the original DotA team and Valve. It is available exclusively on the Steam platform but is available to Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux operating systems. It's also free to play, forever.

Once a Warcraft III mod, the world of Dota has since been picked up by Valve similar to how they picked up the Team Fortress and Counter-Strike franchises from their humble beginnings. Two teams of five players battle each other for momentum in Dota 2's "irresistibly colorful" fantasy world. Each player controls a hero unit with a myriad set of spells and attributes; some may harbor devastating damage output, invaluable utility, or game-deciding ultimate abilities. Under a careful balance, each team will draft their five heroes, each strategizing ability combinations, filling in weaknesses of one hero with another's strength. With 108 heroes to choose from, each with their own abilities, a game of Dota 2, although played on the same map every game, is ever evolving and dynamic.

The easiest way to imagine Dota 2 is to think of a tug-of-war. Both sides attempt to amass gold and experience to gain momentum enough to tear down enemy objectives until they destroy the enemy's Ancient. In between objectives, teams have numerous paths to victory they can take: a pushing lineup to destroy towers while avoiding fights, a team-fight oriented lineup, an ambush and pick-off heavy lineup, the list goes on. Equally important as the grand strategy is the itemization of the heroes. Hero abilities are complimented by items that can be purchased by any hero with most granting passive stats or an active ability to be used in conjunction with hero skills. Just as much as one hero can counter another hero, the right items can bring a world of hurt if used in the right situations.

what do i build on this guy

When you enter the world of Dota 2, you will take part in aiding either the lush Radiant or the brooding Dire factions. The map itself commands respect and awe in the small details carved into it. Dragon flies and koi fish populate the central river that divides the map. A little turtle loiters around one of the river cliffs. The lighting of the forest shade and the rivers of magma bring forth an incredible amount of character to the map. Carefully placed "juke spots" allow you to shake off opponents in the fog of war, creating opportunities to create big plays that can turn the tide of a fight.

As vibrant as the map is, one of my most favorite aspects about Dota 2 is the attention to detail in hero design. Fully voiced to respond to various situations by a talented and star-studded cast, they will alert you to many aspects of the game. Several of the hero's backstories detail friendships or rivalries that are brought to life in-game through voice line interactions. And of course it's Valve, so all the hat jokes apply: you can customize how each of the 108 heroes looks through cosmetics and effects.

offlane tide is quite a bully

One of the biggest deterrents to a game like Dota 2 is the sheer steepness of the learning curve. 108 heroes with at least 4 abilities each- that's 432 spells floor. On top of that, there are 120+ in-game items to memorize. Then there are the metagame related and "when and where do I use my skill/ability" questions. Mastery of mechanics and nuances, build efficiencies and little tricks you can perform also add 100+ things to memorize on that list. That's a lot! You're better of memorizing the periodic table of elements. Dota 2 is very much a knowledge based game- it's like reading the instructions to a Dungeons and Dragons game. I was a skeptic at first; I thought Dota 2 was a big waste of time, a game that you can't just jump into and enjoy for a bit and let go. Dota 2 games take about an hour to complete and hundreds of hours of commitment to truly begin understanding. How then, can anyone scale the walls guarding Dota 2?

It was the spirit and energy of the third International Dota 2 Championship and Dota 2's competitive scene that truly brought me into Dota 2. The best teams battled and competed for an unprecedented prize pool of $2.8 million. Once the dust of combat settled, Alliance stepped forward, victorious, Aegis of Champions in hand coupled with a ridiculous $1.4 million. Watching competitive Dota 2 for the first time was like the first time I watched American football when I was young: I had no idea what was going on or why people were bumping around. Then the crowd roared. The sheer energy that came from the audience jolted me the first time I experienced it. The same happened again in the crowd's reaction to a key play in a Dota 2 match.

The moment the cheers rang out, I wanted to be a part of it.

moments from ti4

There is no teacher like experience. The most difficult part about Dota 2 is that there isn't a big reset button you can press during matches. In a game of chess, you get to move your pieces back and look at what went wrong. In Dota 2, you won't be able to until the end of the match to watch the replay. The first several hours will be confusing and frustrating, but I promise you, the material will come naturally to you in the form of "Oh shit, I know that [hero/item/strategy]. I got destroyed by that [hero/item/strategy] just several games ago!"

The ridiculous plays, the grand jukes, and the nail-biting team-fight, the insurmountable come-back; the awe of the crowd, the big ultimate, and the screams of the victorious and anguish of the vanquished. That's Dota 2. Watch some videos, play some games, have fun with it. The whole losing is fun strategy is hard to apply here, but that's what games like Dota 2 is all about: losing. It's about taking your personal self to the very best and helping your team as much as you can. It's a good philosophy to put into life, really: take any loss and always find something from it- don't let it be in vain.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, but either way the crowds will cheer.