DOTA Questions

[BloatedGuppy]

Some questions for the more experienced guys here:

1. Is it ever appropriate to skip one of your skills and pile on stats instead early on? I've done that a couple of times, particularly when I have a fussy skill I'm not sure about yet, and if someone notices they usually scoff.

2. If your team is Rambo-ing around the map, fighting 2-5 and 1-5 battles, are you obligated to throw in with them? Say if it's a 5 on 2, and they're already getting rolled, should you feed yourself in there as well and die? Or should you bail and not choke up more gold/xp? I backed off such a fight and got yelled at.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

1) Depends on the hero, and depends on the situation. With Sven for example, you can skip levels of Cry, because the movement buff is the same at all levels, but against a heavy physical lineup (Ursa, Lifestealer, etc.) the increased armor is more valuable than stats.

2) If it's obvious that they're going to die with or without your help, it's a waste of time to try to go in. Back off and farm a lane or something.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

1: Well, when I use Drow Ranger, at level one, I level up stats first, then max out frozen arrow and silence.

With the way Precision Aura works, there's no point levelling it before 7.


2: I've had a few like this while using Riki. I'll be invisible running a lane with another team mate and we'll get rushed by 3-5 opponents. The other guy will get ganked, but I stay back and observe, simply because I know there's no chance of winning that particular encounter.

 

[lucky_sharm]

2. If you're a carry hero then you'll usually want to farm instead of fighting in the team battle unless the battle is going on close by, in which case it'd be an opportunity for you to get kills and gold.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

1: Well, when I use Drow Ranger, at level one, I level up stats first, then max out frozen arrow and silence.

Actually, level one into frost arrow works wonders, because you can harass without drawing creep aggro (Orbwalking).

2: I've had a few like this while using Riki. I'll be invisible running a lane with another team mate and we'll get rushed by 3-5 opponents. The other guy will get ganked, but I stay back and observe, simply because I know there's no chance of winning that particular encounter.

Throwing down smoke could actually help your teammate get away. It silences the enemy, slows them and a few might change targets to attack you instead. Who knows, you could buy enough time for your teammates to tp in (unlikely in pubs). You don't need to win a situation like that, just have as many as possible survive.

 

[Akisa]

1: Well, when I use Drow Ranger, at level one, I level up stats first, then max out frozen arrow and silence.

With the way Precision Aura works, there's no point levelling it before 7.


2: I've had a few like this while using Riki. I'll be invisible running a lane with another team mate and we'll get rushed by 3-5 opponents. The other guy will get ganked, but I stay back and observe, simply because I know there's no chance of winning that particular encounter.

I wouldn't get stats +2 to stats gives

+2 Damage
38 Health (basically only 1 extra hit)
0.28 Armor
2 attack speed (not going to be a much of a difference)
26 Mana (Mana is not a problem for Drow)
0.08 Mana Regeneration.

Now Precision Aura gives 14% of agility as bonus damage.

Now a Drow has begins 26 agility or 3.64 damage to all Hero. If your team is mostly ranged heros you can could've given your team basically a slotless +3 damage(or 4 if you just get 1 slipper or 3 ironwood branches). It helps with last hitting or someone else denying. For every 7.15 Agility you're getting an extra damage.

Generally for ranger I go Percison Aura Lvl 1, Silence or Frost arrow depending on who I'm laning against, at 3rd level get the other ability. At level 4 I get second Frost Arrow, and Silence at 5th. Level 7 and 8 I max out Silence as level 2 frost arrows allows you to orb walk and catch up to enemies running away, but silence can shut down many abilities (not items though). 9-10, and 12 I'll get Aura again with level 11 being saved for the "Ultimate".

By level 5 you should have base 35 (rounded down from 35.5) Agi, with at least +16 Agi items, for total 51 agi or 7 damage. Now it may not sound a lot but if you have two range heroes who spots someone out of position that's a free 14 extra damage harassing.

Break down for PA is

1 Point: 14% need 7.15 per 1 damage
2 Point: 18% need 5.56 per 1 damage
3 point: 22% need 4.55 per 1 damage
4 point: 26% need 3.85 per 1 damage

 

[SomeLameStuff]

*snip*

Bit of a problem here though. Precision is non-toggleable, meaning that's a extra damage you're giving to your ranged creeps, will push the lane up. The smartest option is to save the skill point till the time where you're not too afraid of getting out of position, or if the enemy is pushing the lane forward waaaay too much so that the extra damage doesn't matter.

 

[theplagued]

1. That's a very bad idea, let me put it plainly: Tiny is coming at you down the middle pathway and all you have are slightly increased stats, pointy sticks and harsh language. Basically it'll end with your hero crying and bleeding out of his eyes as Tiny throws him across the map.

 

[Rastien]

1. Depends on the hero... Can be done with Sven for example, I max Q asap, put 1 in the movement buff as it's a flat 12% take ult when avaible then just max stats till around 12-13 once Q is maxed. I then tend to put it into cleave once i got some damage online.

2. If your team is death balling and you're not a carry and your lane is safe throw in with them. If you are getting towers +200g is alot plus the chance at hero assist gold or a kill your looking at around 300-500 gold for death balling a lane and getting a tower.

You're gonna get yelled at regardless of what you do if you are a carry and your team is death balling and you're being left alone use the time to free farm and get a beefy item for yourself then join in. The trap a lot of carry's fall into is ignoring team fights and farming for 40+ minutes then when they do feel it's time to fight don't bring anything to the table.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I believe PA is intended to be toggle able so that it doesn't affect creeps. It says that on the description anyway...

Most auras as of right now can't be toggled off creeps. They really should add that in soon >.>

 

[Jandau]

Stats builds are not uncommon, though as others have said, it depends on the hero. Usually, it's done on heroes whose skills don't really bring any immediate benefit at low levels and/or the hero would benefit more from increased stats.

For instance, Sven often ignores his Cleave and puts only one point in Warcry, maxing his Stun and dropping some points in stats simply because Warcry is good with only one point and Cleave is a waste until you have some damage to back it up. On the other hand, the points in stats will give him more mana and help his early mana troubles. Similar thing with Juggernaut (skipping crit until later, maybe one point in heal), Drow (one point in Arrow, maybe one point in Silence, max aura and stats) and Phantom Lancer (most skills create illusions which are terrible without some items to beef them up).

If this is done, it's almost exclusively done with carry and semi-carry heroes and even then it's not a must-have.

As for jumping into lost fights, the question is if the fight would be different with your help? Sure, if the whole enemy team jumps one solo hero, he's likely fucked and you might at best throw down some CC to maybe help him escape or boost him with a Force Staff. However, if 4 enemies jump two of your teammates, maybe your help could turn the fight around. 3v4 is hardly unwinnable and depends on the heroes involved and skill/positioning. Knowing when to fight and when to run is a key skill that's gained through experience and there's no simple answer.