How to Play Dota

Due to recent requests from uidf and my lack of time I will make here a brief (at least I'll try to make it as brief as possible)guide for those who recently started/wish to start playing DotA. Everything in this guide is based solely on my own experience and some more experienced players may not agree with some parts. I'm not some uber gosu here and I am fully aware that I don't do everything as some people got used to.

This guide is only to help others start, it's not strict 'howto' that should be fallowed by word. Just read it, try it and adjust it any way it suits you.

For starters, the most important rule some tend to forget when action gets stiff: DO NOT DIE!!!

It's ok if you don't kill as long as you don't die too (the final result of 1-0 is much better than say 5-7).

It may seem hard in the beginning (especially in -ar games) so if you're not very familiar with the game yet just run away when your hero is in red and go heal (if you consider yourself slow or the pressure is big it's better to start running in orange).

The only exception for this rule is when your friend needs help and you're able to give it. This is for more experienced players though since those of less skill tend to get killed along with their teammates which is very bad.

Now the second most important part: hero choice. (we'll consider it to be an -ap game)

Most beginners after few games think that most powerful heroes are:

Lich

Venomancer

Crystal Maiden

Lion

Slayer

(remind me if I forgot any)

You can't be more wrong, those are the weakest heroes late game, very easy to counter mid game and moderately easy to avoid early game (more on this in tactics).

When picking a hero try get your hands on some melee hero (preferably with str as primary attribute). Yes, they are the hardest to master and play but they pwn late game and by playing them you'll learn faster (after playing melee early, later on when you get ranged hero it'll be extremely easy for you to play it).

Some good choices:

Slithern guard - my personal favourite, 2 disablers, speed increase for running away or chasing wounded foe

Sven - needless to say this guy deals the most damage in the game

Leoric - good for beginners, easily countered by magina though

Naix - supreme pwnzor, very hard to play early game, requires different