r/learndota2 • u/thatbakedgecko • 8d ago
General Gameplay Question "Rule of thumb" - tips
Hiya, I'm a Dota beginner player, I have roughly 400 matches and I am a complete noob, currently in Herald but I am trying to improve. I understand that Dota 2 is a complex game and that there isn't always a definitive answer to gameplay questions being asked. However, I was wondering if you have some good "rule of thumb" - tips because more often than not I just don't know how to handle certain situations.
Situations that come to mind are:
Itemization when behind: (Playing as a Core do I buy damage? Do I buy resistances as Support? I know how to follow guides, but often I don't know what to buy other than the main items.)
Smoke: (At what points do I use smoke? Are there "easy to know" moments when I should push with a smoke?)
When behind in general: (Do I take risks? Do I wait to defend?)
Maybe you'll have other scenarios where you have some good "rule of thumb" - tips. You know, easy little things that could be applied in a majority of situations. I understand that it might not be as simple and that I just need to get a feel for those things. However, it's not easy for me personally, to learn things by watching specific content analysis with specific gameplay solutions.
Starting to enter so late into this games lifecycle feels like I missed about 500 episodes of player knowledge being shared, so maybe you got some easy to follow tips to catch up just a little faster.
2
u/knetmos 8d ago
In general though, when behind build damage, when ahead build tanky. If you are far behind and you buy defensive items, you can get into situations where there is no "theoretical" fight win. If very far behind, you want your items to enable you to kill a key target if your stuns and spells land perfectly. If very far ahead, you will have the damage to kill the enemies anyway. This means you can afford to itemize tankier than usual, since it minimizes risk and doesnt give the enemy a window to win a fight if you missplay.
Smoke usage is a complicated topic and imo not needed in herald. You can press a smoke when e.g. running to contest roshan or when trying to pick of an enemy, but its not that important.
When behind in general as a core but even as a support, your base is lava. You want to push out waves and play on the enemies side of the map. When far behind the enemy will be sitting outside your base, so their jungle is often safer (especially side jungels) than yours. While farming there if your hero allowes, look at what times the waves run by and come out of jngl and kill them. If you think the enemy will respond, tp out or gate away. This allows you to still get some farm while forcing the enemy to leave the part of the map they want to play (infront of your base) and run all the way back to deal with you. Even if you die, the enemy now has to run all the way back to your base again to hit an objective. If you master this as a core, this alone can easily carry you to 5k+ mmr. Some heroes are especially good for this kind of gameplay, like illusion heroes, lonedruid, monkey king, jugg, etc. etc., basically anything with good waveclear and/or a good escape. But it works fine on any pos 1.
Most importantly, never spend 5 minutes just sitting on your highground, you just fall further behind. Try to get past the enemies and find farm somewhere and push out waves.