Lich Guide

Kel'Thuzad (Lich)
Forcibly raised from the dead by the Lich King to serve as his elite magical guard, the Lich has the burning cold of Northrend in his realm of control. Evoking numerous freezing blasts, his talent in life still remains in death. Delving into the essence of cold magic, he has the power to cause ice to condense into an orb that bounces from foe to foe, causing tremendous pain in its wake. Sacrificing his allies for magical power, the Lich is a murderer without a trace of warmth.

Hero Skills

Frost Nova - Blasts enemy units around a target enemy unit with a wave of damaging frost that slows movement and attack rates for 4 seconds.

Level 1 - 50 target damage and 75 nova damage.
Level 2 - 100 target damage and 100 nova damage.
Level 3 - 125 target damage and 125 nova damage.
Level 4 - 175 target damage and 150 nova damage.

Frost Armor - Creates a shield of frost around a target friendly unit. The shield adds armor and slows attacking melee units for 2 seconds.

Lasts 40 seconds.

Level 1 - Adds 3 armor.
Level 2 - Adds 6 armor.
Level 3 - Adds 9 armor.
Level 4 - Adds 12 armor.

Dark Ritual - Sacrifices a target friendly unit to convert its hit points into mana.

Level 1 - 15% of hit points to mana.
Level 2 - 30% of hit points to mana.
Level 3 - 45% of hit points to mana.
Level 4 - 60% of hit points to mana.

Chain Frost - Releases a jumping breath of frost that jumps 6 times.

Level 1 - Deals 280 damage per hit.
Level 2 - Deals 370 damage per hit.
Level 3 - Deals 460 damage per hit.

Hero Builds

MVP Build - This is not a good build for lich if you are looking for good team play. Use this build only if there are no other options for mvp or you are playing with random players and your teammates suck at playing.

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - bracers, boots of travel
  
• Late game items - Eye of Skadi, Aghanhim's Scepter, Heart of Tarrasque
  
• Skill Build : dark ritual, nova, nova, dark ritual, nova, chain frost, nova, dark ritual, stats, dark ritual, chain frost, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, chain frost, the rest to stats. (Note: if you plan on being aggressive at level 1 like getting a first blood, you can get nova first but it's best to get dark ritual first for early creep control)
  

Gameplay :

The moment the creeps starts to spawn, cast dark ritual on on melee creep. That way, you have one less creep so your enemy on the lane will automatically have less xp and gold. Cast dark ritual every cooldown and keep harassing the enemy with your frost nova and occasional normal attacks. You have almost unlimited mana because of dark ritual so don't be afraid to cast nova every cooldown. Just be careful to have enough mana to cast dark ritual again. Keep doing this to keep giving your enemy a hard time. When you reach level 6, if he has low hp it is a sure kill. If the hero with you on the same lane(teammate) is a stunner, it would make things easier to get a kill. If the enemy goes back to base to heal, it is also good because it means that he is now behind on experience and that also means easier farming for you and your teammate. It will also affect the hero he left on the lane. That hero can't afford to get himself exposed so he will most definitely hide behind their tower. Keep doing this until you're forced to go back to base and buy items. When you do, buy boots and bracers first. Boots of travel if you have extra. When yo have these items, you can easily support your teammates or go anywhere on the map for the kill. As much as possible use chain frost to go for a kill every cooldown.

Late Game you go for Eye of Skadi, Aghanhim's Scepter and Heart of Tarrasque. Eye of Skadi is a good item for lich for the slow effects. It also adds health, mana and damage. Get Aghanhim's Scepter after this to increase your ultimate damage and decrease its cooldown giving you more chances on casting chain frost with also an improved damage. Get Heart of Tarrasque after this to make you harder to kill. Expect that by this time, your enemies have good items too so you need lots of health if you want to stay long in combat. You can experiment for your next items after this. You can go for refresher orb or anything you like. Just try things out.

Support Build - best build for lich for team play. Lich is one of my favorite support characters. It is the very thing that Lich is good at while also having the ability to do massive damage

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - observer wards(or sentries if you need it more), bracers, town portal
  
• Late game items - dagger, mekansm, Eul's Scepter of Divinity
  
• Skill Build : dark ritual, nova, nova, dark ritual, nova, chain frost, nova, dark ritual, stats, dark ritual, chain frost, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, frost armor, chain frost, the rest to stats. (Note: if you plan on being aggressive at level 1 like getting a first blood, you can get nova first but it's best to get dark ritual first for early creep control)
  

Gameplay :

As soon as the creeps spawn, cast dark ritual on the melee creep right away. Remember to cast dark ritual every cooldown. Your role is to support your teammate's hero on the lane. Give all creep kills to him as much as possible and focus on denying your creeps and harassing the enemy heroes. Use frost nova every now and then but be sure to reserve mana for dark ritual. If you get constant visits from other enemy heroes, go home and buy observer wards. Buy sentry wards if your opponents have skills like vendetta and windwalk. Remember to always support your team's mvp hero. Buy lots of wards if you have to. Don't worry about your item too much. All you need is to be in a safe distance then cast spells every now and then every cooldown. If you are having a hard time, buy 1 to 2 bracers to give you more health. Buy boots and town portal too so you can also help your other teammates whenever they're being attacked. You can leave the mvp hero every now and then to harass other enemies on the other lanes but be sure to bring tp so you can always go back to your lane whenever you are needed by the mvp hero. Keep doing this until you have extra money to buy items of your own like dagger of escape. Dagger of escape is a good item to help you escape the enemy's mvp heroes. Get mekansm too if you still have extra gold so you can heal yourself and your allies during clashes.

During clashes, the most important thing is for you to cast chain frost before you die. Always make sure that you casted chain frost on the clash. You also need to have good timing for maximum effect. Don't go out front before clashes. Avoid being caught by the enemy first thing like being stunned or swapped then get killed before you can even cast chain frost. Be sure to cast frost armor on your teammates too. This is good specially against melee opponents. If you did all this during the clash, you are already good. It's ok to die as long as you have casted all the spells that you needed to cast.

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Dynamic Duo for the Week

I will be posting once a week what I call as dynamic duo. They are two good combo heroes. It could be that they are a good pair during lane battles, during clashes, etc. So our dynamic duo for the week is sven and chen.

It's not because they are both knights(rogue knight and holy knight ^_^) but it is because they really a very good pair in every aspect of the game. They are good during the early part which is the lane battles. Chen should get possession and sven should get storm bolt at level 1. As soon as the creeps spawn on their side, chen should get 1 creep immediately. The best creep to get is the centaur or the fulborg. Both have area effect stun so when sven throws a storm bolt, the creep should immediately go and follow up a stun. This is a very good combo and can get hero kills most of the time. Specially when chen has penitence too which makes the enemy take additional damage and slow him at the same time making it hard to escape. If there is no fulborg or centaur, get satyr as second priority. It helps a lot because it can cast mana burn up to 4 times which burns 100 mana and damages 100 health. Imagine how much it would hurt the enemy being drained 400 health and 400 mana so early in the game.

During clashes, chen and sven provide a good chain stun. By the time chen should have around 3 stunners so when sven storm bolts a hero. Those creeps will get near to that hero stunning alternately for maximum effect while sven attacks with god strength on him. Sven should have a black king bar by this time so he can go to front lines without worrying of being disabled or casted high damaging spells. And if sven has low hp, chen can cast mekansm then hand of god to heal him. :)

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Viper Guide

Viper (Netherdrake)
A malicious Drake tamed by the Lich King himself, Viper is a fierce, acid-spitting beast whose speed and agility surprises the most hardened of warriors. Cursing himself into a maddened rage, Viper charges into battle without regard of his own safety. His salivary glands produce stinging poison that causes enemies to writhe in pain, severely damaging their nerves. Be careful when facing this powerful monster...its dark silhouette may be the last thing you will ever see.(From Warcraft III: Frozen Throne)

Hero Skills

Frenzy - Increases attack speed for 20 seconds, at the cost of taking additional damage.

Level 1 - 25% increase, 5% damage taken increase.
Level 2 - 50% increase, 10% damage taken increase.
Level 3 - 75% increase, 15% damage taken increase.
Level 4 - 100% increase, 20% damage taken increase.

Poison Attack - Coats Viper's attack with poison. Slows movement and attack speeds and lasts 2 seconds.

Level 1 - Slows speed by 10%, deals 6 damage per second.
Level 2 - Slows speed by 20%, deals 12 damage per second.
Level 3 - Slows speed by 30%, deals 18 damage per second.
Level 4 - Slows speed by 40%, deals 24 damage per second.

Corrosive Skin - Viper's body is covered with poison. Any unit that attacks it becomes infected. Reduced movement and attack speed and minor damage for 3 seconds. The poison also absorbs some of the damage from spells.

Level 1 - 5% reduction, 5 damage per second. 5% magic reduction.
Level 2 - 10% reduction, 10 damage per second. 10% magic reduction.
Level 3 - 15% reduction, 15 damage per second. 15% magic reduction.
Level 4 - 20% reduction, 20 damage per second. 20% magic reduction.

Viper Strike - Strikes with a vicious bite, slowing movement and attack speeds significantly and dealing poison damage over time.

Lasts 5 seconds.

Level 1 - Deals 60 damage per second and slows speeds by 40%.
Level 2 - Deals 100 damage per second and slows speeds by 60%.
Level 3 - Deals 145 damage per second and slows speeds by 80%.

Hero Builds

Semi-Support Build I -This is best if you want viper to hunt around the map looking for kills early game

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - dagger, boots of travel, dagon, wraith bands(not necessary if you have gained lots of gold)
  
• Late game items - Sange and Yasha, Monkey King Bar
  
• Skill Build : poison attack, stats, poison attack, stats, poison attack, viper strike, poison attack, corrosive skin, stats, corrosive skin, viper strike, corrosive skin, frenzy, corrosive skin, stats, frenzy, viper strike, then assign the rest.
  

Gameplay :

Keep harassing the enemy hero/es on the lanes. If you are with an mvp hero, give the creep kills to the mvp hero and concentrate on denying your own creeps. When you reach level 6, attempt a hero kill by using viper strike. When you reach level 7, go back to base and shop for items. You should be able to buy boots of travel by this time if you were careful or if you made the hero kill. If not, buy boots, some circlets and town portal then farm for your boots of travel. Be sure to watch out for enemies trying to kill your teammates. Always help them when you have the chance by using your town portal on the nearest tower. You can also earn lots of gold if you are lucky and were able to kill a hero when doing the rescue.

When you already have dagger, boots of travel and dagon it would be a lot easier to kill enemy heroes. You can even do a combo attack like when you have a teammate who is a stunner, make him stun the opponent while you travel on the creeps near to them. By the time the enemy recovers from stun, you will be there and cast viper strike on him then attack him with poison attack. If the enemy can almost escape, cast the dagon on him. lol. Just keep doing while slowly buying your next items. This is a good way of supporting your mvp heroes because you divert the enemy's attention on your constant visits and killing attempts. You can also help anywhere on the map as long as there is a structure to creep to use your boots of travel on. Your hero is still very useful late game if you got Sange & Yasha andMonkey King bar(or perhaps more).

Semi-Support Build II -This is best if you want viper support the team's mvp hero on the lane

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - dagger, power threads, mekansm, wards(if needed), wraith bands(not necessary if you have gained lots of gold)
  
• Late game items - Sange and Yasha, Monkey King Bar
  
• Skill Build : poison attack, stats, poison attack, stats, poison attack, viper strike, poison attack, corrosive skin, stats, corrosive skin, viper strike, corrosive skin, frenzy, corrosive skin, stats, frenzy, viper strike, then assign the rest.
  

Gameplay :

When you choose this build, you are most probably with another hero(most likely an mvp hero) in the lane. Just keep harassing your enemies with poison attack while denying your own creeps. Give all the creeps kills to the mvp hero as much as possible...even the hero kills. If you are constantly ganked in your lane by enemy heroes, provide wards. Keep your mvp hero safe while maintaining a safe distance so the enemy heroes can't attack you directly with ease. When you already have dagger, it's time for you and the mvp to be aggressive. Always try to go for the kill whenever you have your viper strike ready. And when you already have the mekansm, you can even hunt the enemy even if he is hiding behind his team's tower. You must have town portal with you every time so you can also support your other teammates. With mekansm, you save them lots of time and yourself too specially that you have your dagger. If you play this very well, you can buy Sange & Yasha, Monkey King Bar and others later on and still become very useful late game.

MVP Build -This build is best if you will rely on viper to be a strong killing machine on your team

• Starting Items - 2 tangos, 1 flask, the rest to branches
• Early to mid game items - relic, power threads, wraith bands(if you have hard time getting relic but go for relic after this)
  
• Late game items - Radiance, Sange & Yasha, Heart of Tarrasque or Black King Bar(if enemy has lots of stunners and/or very damaging spells), Monkey King Bar
  
• Skill Build : poison attack, stats, poison attack, stats, poison attack, viper strike, poison attack, corrosive skin, stats, corrosive skin, viper strike, corrosive skin, frenzy, corrosive skin, stats, frenzy, viper strike, then assign the rest.
  

Gameplay :

Farm for items from early game to mid game. Even in late game depending on the sitution. Focus on getting your items specially relic because this is the most difficult part. When you have radiance, it will be easier after that. Always get the creep and hero kills and ask for your teammates' help if you are having a hard time. You can even switch lane or go to creep camps if that is what it takes to get your items. Always bring town portal so you can use it to escape enemy attacks. You can also use it to help your teammates from other lanes but only do this if there is a little chance that you will die specially if you can kill at least 1 enemy enemy hero when you go for the rescue. Aside from that, just keep farming. You will come out later on....very strong. :D

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DOTA Heroes Guide Part I

I will start my guide on hero builds and strategy. This is very important because before you can actually play together with a team, you must at least know what hero to use and how to use it effectively. This guide will not only help you teach the best strategies but can also help you decide what hero suits you best. Are you better as a support hero? Or an MVP hero? You will know.

Here is a list of heroes that I will include in part I of my heroes guide. They will not be posted in the same order but their guide will be posted first before the others that are not listed :

1. King Leoric (Skeleton King)
2. Kel'Thuzad (Lich King)
3. Sven (Rogue Knight)
4. Rigwarl (Bristleback)
5. Nortrom (Silencer)
6. Mercurial (Spectre)
7. Razor (Lightning Revenant)
8. Viper (Netherdrake)
9. Demnok Lannik (Warlock)
10. Leshrac the Malicious (Tormented Soul)

I will also be posting a team strategy guide like team lineups, team lanes, etc. in between hero guides so just keep checking.

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DOTA Heroes

Players should choose their heroes(1 hero per player) in order to play DOTA. It is very important to know the hero very well so you can use them very effectively. Heroes can be classified in to different types. They can mainly be classified by attributes( strength, agility and intelligence).

Strength increases a hero’s maximum hit points and hit point regeneration. Each time a hero gains 1 strength his maximum hit points is increased by 19 and his hit point regeneration is increased by 1. Base damage of strength type heroes are also increased by 1 for every 1 strength gained. Agility increases a hero’s armor and attack speed. Each time a hero gains 7 agility his armor is increased by 1. Also for each 1 agility gained, attack speed is increased by 1% and adds 1 base damage for agility type heroes. Intelligence increases a hero’s mana regeneration and maximum mana points. Each time a hero gains 1 intelligence his mana is increased by 13 and his mana regeneration is increased by 1. Heroes with intelligence as their primary attribute increase their base damage by 1 for every 1 intelligence gained.

By the way, heroes gain additional attribute when they level up which varies on different heroes. There is also an option where players can assign it when heroes gain a level. Hit point and mana regeneration means the number of hit points or mana regenerated every 1 second. Armor increases hero defense against physical attacks.

So going on with classifying heroes by their main attributes. Here is a little overview:

• Strength Heroes - these heroes have strength as their primary attribute. They have a melee attack meaning they can only attack units that are next to them(this might change if ever new strength heroes are released on the future versions of DOTA). These heroes have lot of hit points and have a high hit point regeneration meaning they can sustain lots of damage and can quickly go back into battle after taking a lot of damage compared to heroes of different types.
• Agility Heroes - these heroes have agility as their primary attribute. They are probably highest damaging heroes in the game mainly because of their fast attack speed. They can also sustain a lot of physical damage because of their high armor.
• Intelligence Heroes - these heroes have intelligence as their primary attribute. They mostly ranged heroes because what they always do and most effective at is by casting spells. It is best to keep these heroes from a safe distance to strength and agility heroes because they have little physical resistance compared to them. These heroes also have the highest mana pool and mana regeration in the game.

Heroes can also be classified by their roles on the game. These are mvp heroes, support heroes and semi-support( or semi-mvp) heroes.

• MVP Heroes - these heroes are the strongest heroes during late game. Meaning they’re best when they have gained a higher level and good items in their inventory. They are usually weak during the early games(compared to other heroes) so they are going to need some very good support. They will usually just farm for items from the early to middle part of the game then later comes out very strong on the late game part. They can kill almost, if not, an entire team and even the opposing team’s mvp heroes if they get left behind on items.
• Support Heroes - these heroes are the ones that takes care of the mvp heroes during the game. From lane battles to clashes, they are very important to the mvp heroes’ survival. They are usually strong on the early part to the middle part of the game because of their support and offensive spells. Support heroes should do everything they can to protect the team’s mvp heroes even if it means they are going to die on the mvp’s place. Players using these type of heroes should be extra cautious specially during clashed because they can easily be killed when exposed.
• Semi-MVP or Semi-support Heroes - these heroes are very versatile. They can be play as support on the early part and later become as mvps. They can also play as hunter where from the early to middle part of the game they keep going for hero kills on different lanes even without that much items. Although they are not as strong as mvp heroes, they can become stronger if they are played very well.

Heroes can also be classified on other types like tank, spammer or sweepers. Tank heroes are the ones who can take huge amount of damage and usually enters the clashes first to draw out the attention of the opposing team. They want to be attacked first because they can’t be killed easily therefore giving their teammates free attacks without being bothered. Spammers are heroes who have lots of mana(or mana regeneration) and have area of effect spells(AOE). They are very effective in hitting lots of creeps(even enemy heroes) and is very important when defending or pushing an attack. Sweepers are heroes that have a very high damage. They are called sweepers because they usually come a little late during clashes to avoid being killed first or being disabled with stun, euls, etc. They come in when the attention is on another teammate(hopefully the tank. heh) and then kill what’s left of the enemy starting on the weakest ones.

Again, heroes are mainly classified by attributes. You may not encounter the other types I mentioned here but I said it because these are very important when I post my guides later on. So when I say “mvp agility hero” or in one of my guides “support build, mvp build, etc.” you will know what I mean. :)

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What is DOTA?

So, what is DOTA anyway?

DOTA, short for Defense of the Ancients, is a custom map made for Warcraft III: Frozen Throne. DOTA is a team strategy where players can choose sides and his own hero. There are two sides on the games, Sentinel and Scourge. Players on the same side fight the other players on the opposing side to win the game. The objective of the games is to destroy the opponents’ base together with AI controlled units called creeps. Heroes start at level 1 and levels up to level 25. Heroes level up during the game while killing opposing heroes and creeps. Heroes gain skill when they gain additional levels. DOTA can be played as starting 1v1 up to 5v5. This could be against human players or AI controlled heroes which can be played on DOTA AI maps.

DOTA was originally developed by a mapmaker named Eul. There were different DOTA variations that time. The most popular one is DOTA All Stars which was developed by Guinsoo. When Guinsoo retired, IceFrog took over as the main programmer for the map.

DOTA is more on strategy than individual play. Even though players have their own heroes, it is their teamwork that is very important to winning the game. Although factors like individual skills also matter, a very good player with team mates that doesn’t care a lot about the team can’t just win by himself against all his opponents(unless of course he’s far too good and his opponents are new to the game).

This blog will be about DOTA all stars and the different strategies to win the game. All will be discussed here from individual strategies to team strategies… best items for individual hero to best items for the same hero but this time for teamplay… different roles of each heroes in a team like who is the mvp type hero or the support hero… the different team lineups with their own unique combo or counter lineups for another lineup… well, just anything that I can share and think of.

I’m also open for comments and suggestions so feel free to say what you think about my posts.

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DOTA gamer creates his own DOTA blog

To start my blog, I would like to do a little introduction about myself. I am a 24 year old guy who loves playing computer games(PC and console games). One of the games that I love so much is DOTA. For those who doesn’t what DOTA is, I will be posting it on my next post. Aside from playing games, I like watching movies specially TV series and anime. I also like to go out and hang out with friends. I also work as a programmer for an outsourcing company. You can check my other blog here.

I dedicate this blog to posting information and strategies on DOTA based on my experiences as a part of a DOTA team and also from all the things I’ve learned from watching replays to playing with random people in Battle.net and GG Client.

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