Before we begin, make sure you’ve read through DotA Beginner’s Guide – Part 1 of this series. Well, now that you have been conveyed the basic idea of the game in brief, I shall now proceed into detailing the various and diverse aspects of this game. The fact that a strong strategy is your ‘primedirective’ has already been stressed in the previous part.

The main characteristic of DotA, above all else, 
is the different heroes you can choose from. There is a huge array of characters (heroes) in the game, 
each with his or her own set of skills and combos. We will now take a look at the different classes of
heroes in the game and how each type of hero must be handled.

Agility Heroes

These heroes are the fastest attackers on the map, and are easily able to start the killings in the initial stages of the game. The ranged agility heroes are great at harassing opponents and denying creeps. 
At times, the game beginnings are entirely dependent on them while the remaining heroes try and 
level up. The Dwarven Sniper, Venomancer or Drow Ranger are perfect for starters. The melee ones
 are cool too, and some such as the Bounty Hunter are amazing heroes with their invisibility and wind
 walking features. A major advantage of an agility hero is that it is easy to control and understand for a 
beginner. However, many-a-agility heroes have the disadvantage of being fragile and are often good
only as supporters. Pitting a weak Agility class hero against a Strength hero in the later stages of the
game without backup or a way to run away is nothing but foolhardy. Of course, heroes like Anti-Mage
and Bloodseeker level up to be formidable enemies, but playing them requires a good level of mastery.

Intelligence Heroes

This class of heroes includes characters with a good deal of mana at their disposal. Intelligence heroes
 are great both as support and as solo killers. Lina has a very powerful nuke and can stun multiple heroes 
in an area for a good deal of time, leaving them vulnerable to attack from her allies. The invoker is often
 useful for his versatile nature. Bane elemental can eliminate even the toughest of opponents with ease.
 A common trait, observable from the above examples, of the intelligence heroes is their ability to trap 
opponents and render them defenseless. Also, many of them can heal their allies, an often helpful 
characteristic. Therefore, intelligence heroes are often used by players to support the strength heroes 
who can deal massive damage and finish of enemies quickly. For some beginners, the intelligence
 heroes may be as comfortable to play with as the agility heroes or even better.

Strength Heroes

As the name would aptly suggest, the strength heroes are the pillars of any DotA clan team. Known as
 Carries, they become very powerful in the later stages of the game, majorly because of the huge health
bar. A strength hero well played can tilt the game in his favor against insane odds. Strength heroes can 
take and deal massive damage, once an opponent falls into their grip. Pudge is one of the most feared
 heroes in this category mainly because of its meat hook which can pull an enemy from a distance right
 into the middle of an ally get-together. The Sand King has the ability to stun an enemy and create a high
intensity earth-quake which mostly kills any character in its wake. Barathrum, controlled with good skill,
 can be the most intimidating hero in the entire game. Moreover, most of the strength heroes are able to run faster than other heroes. It is to be noted however, that strength heroes are only able to dominate 
in the later stages of the game, and must be well farmed in order to be powerful. Hence, they are only
 well controlled by experienced players and do not suit beginners very well.

Even after understanding the categories of players, be warned that some heroes are dominating in front
 of certain opponents but weak in comparison to some. Also, when choosing heroes for a team, some
 heroes best support a few heroes and do not accompany a few quite so well. These details can only be 
figured out after playing multiple games with different combinations of heroes. And I wish u the best for 
the same.

For those of you who may have not known, DotA (as we now call it) is just a short for Defense of the Ancients. It’s a custom multiplayer map for Blizzard’s Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, which is arguably more popular than Valve’s Counter strike 1.6. As opposed to Counter Strike, DotA is a real-time strategy game which requires excellently co-ordinated teamwork, being the only gateway to victory.

This guide is intended to serve as a brief guide to educate the newbie DotA enthusiasts and hence, the simplicity has been stressed throughout the article. 

Teamwork is the most important constituent of streaming a good DotA game. Never dream of going about the world, thinking you can pwn opponents all on your own; it will simply get you and your team killed/ defeated. I’m not going to bore you with talks that are already covered on thousands of websites. DotA being a widely appreciated game, has a lot of “how to’s” covered at it’s dedicated websites. However, a good beginner’s guide is hard to find, and we aim to acquaint you with the world of DotA.

Map Layout

• The Warriors

Now let’s begin with what really happens in the game. There are 2 warring sides – the Sentinel and the Scourge, each with its respective set of heroes who fight for their sides. Each team has a monument (or an Ancient) which must be protected. The team which destroys the opponents’ Ancient wins. However, these Ancients are placed deep within the enemy territory and are protected by powerful towers, you will need to fight and push your way through!

• The Heroes

Coming to the heroes, all heroes are classified into 3 categories, namely – agility, intelligence and strength, wherein the category tells the primary attribute of the hero. The agility heroes are a good starting point for beginners and after some practice, a player may wish to graduate to intelligence or strength category heroes.

After choosing a hero, one must look to improve attributes by purchasing items from the shops around. Some items may need to be constructed by a combination of other items and (at times) recipes.

For example, to construct a Butterfly (a popular item in the game), one must buy a quarterstaff for 900 gold, a talisman of evasion for 1800 gold, and an eaglehorn for 3300 gold. The players who hits and enemy last is the one who gets the gold. Gold may be denied to enemies by killing own-team creeps when their health is less than 25%. It is good to practice to get last hits and collect gold fast.

Initially, it is advisable to start off by playing some games alone or with AI computer players in 2v2 or 3v3. One discovers things only when he starts exploring the map. There are 3 lanes – top, bottom and mid by which the team creeps tread. All around the map, in the jungles one can find neutral creeps and have some good kills for gold and experience for level-ups.

Gaming Jargons

Here are a few gaming jargons that players often use in the game:

• Gank – when multiple heroes of one team come together to one place to surround and kill less number of enemy heroes.
• Farm – when heroes go with team creeps in lanes and kill enemy creeps for gold and experience.
• Hunt – when heroes go to farm on neutral creeps.

There thy go, happy hunting, farming, ganking and pwning! J