I see. Well I'll give it a try and see how it goes. I don't mind spending some money to get characters to use.
On MOBAs I generally like to play as a carry but I know that may not be a good idea when I'm still starting out.
So I think I am going to be most comfortable starting with a character that is a ranged single-target nuker with good escapes. What do you think is a good character for that? xD
Since we're on this topic, what do you think are good characters for jungling, ganking, pushing, initiating and disabling? I usually prefer characters that move quick and can escape rather than rely on toughness and recovery. I also find that I am very good with characters that benefit from map awareness (characters with global skills) and characters that are greatly rewarded for micro intensive plays. So... that typically means range characters are a must for me lol
My worst roles are supports and tanks so don't give me those! =P
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For Dota2 I haven't played in awhile but I did play ranked quite a bit and I got pretty high. So from what I remember, standard play is usually 1 on mid, 1 on easy lane, 1 jungle, and 2 on hard lane. If no jungler then it would 2 on easy lane instead. If there are 2 carries that need to be fed with no jungler, sometimes the team is okay with 1 mid, 1 easy lane, and 3 hard lane. You can use this picture as an illustration of the lanes -> http://www.gamereplays.org/community/uploads/post-441-1289867789_thumb.jpg
Generally it's good to ward the runes near the middle that spawn every 2 minutes. It's always good to get a bottle as a starting item to store these runes because they give you excellent buffs.
ALWAYS value your character's life. In almost every situation, it's better to retreat and find another opportunity for a sure kill than to risk dying to get an early advantage. This is because you lose a lot of gold when your character dies. It is better to farm your gold slowly killing last hits (doing the killing blow on monsters) than to kill players, ESPECIALLY on the early game.
Laning is so important. You'll have to focus on last hits and deny enemies from getting last hits. Last hits are the only way to get gold from monsters. Be generous with the carries of your team, make them take the kill or last hit if you have a choice so they can get more gold. Ofcourse if you are also a carry, then it doesn't matter.
Sometimes the battle is decided just from when the players choose their heroes. Do not ever try something like 5 carries lol. Always have a support that can compliment the team and can place wards.
If 2 members of your team die. You have to be REALLY careful until they re-spawn again. Group together with your remaining teammates, stay near towers. Focus on delaying. Lose a few towers if you have to. Avoid suffering more character deaths, especially a complete team wipe out. It is really hard to get back in a DOTA game after a team wipe out.
General strategy on team fights is if you have an initiator, let that character start the team fight to give you guys an advantage. Always aim for the DPS or Support characters first. NEVER the tanks. Some characters have OP team support skills. If possible, be aggressive in initiating a team fight when their "team fight support character" is disabled or still re-spawning.
Heroes to watch out for:
Pudge - Initiator, can pull you in to force an engagement. In early games, Pudge can pull you in to the tower which can kill you really fast if you're not careful. Always zigzag and keep your distance when fighting Pudge. He usually mids. Pudge can hide behind trees to catch you. Always good to report his position to your team whenever he moves.
Spirit Breaker - Ganker. Even at low levels he can charge at you and go through walls. Always be map aware on the position of Spirit breaker. Never go deep in enemy territory when spirit break is around since he will always find a way to catch you. Always think of ways to escape. Good players will always alert their team if they see Spirit Breaker charging. Always pay attention to team communication.
Riki / Bounty Hunter / Nyx / Weaver / Clinkz - Early cloakers. If you lane with them, stay near towers early game if you want to save on sentry wards. Always be aware where they are last seen. If you haven't seen them in awhile, assume that they are near you (especially Riki) so do not ever jungle alone or advance alone during those times.
Blood Seeker - Has map hacks if you are low on health. Always keep your health high or do not risk "hiding" when you are low health when the other team has Blood Seeker
Nature's Prophet - Can teleport anywhere even on lower levels. Ofcourse this character won't risk teleporting to put himself in danger and he isn't much of a nuker, but he can disable you. Always think of the possibility that he might finish you off when you are at low health.
Zeus - His ult damages everyone on the map. If you're fighting a Zeus, do not have low HP when his ult is not on cooldown (90 seconds).
Mirana - Initiator. Has the longest stun in the game. If you get hit by her slow moving big arrow, you can expect that the whole team will come running to kill you lol. So avoid her sacred arrow!
Abaddon - Most noobs get a lot of hate because they don't know about Abaddon's ult. When Abaddon activates his ult, he burns with blue flame and ALL damage heal him. So DO NOT attack him when he has his ult on. It should only last 6 seconds at most. The worst you can do is heal Abaddon and waste all your skill cooldowns.
Meepo - Meepo can make many clones of himself. What's important to know is that you only have to kill ONE of them to kill ALL of them. So always find the target your nuker is focusing on. Decide on one Meepo. Do not waste your time hurting all of them but not killing one.
Legion Commander - Her ult forces you to duel her. Never risk going close to her when you have low health. Dying from her duel is especially damaging to your team because she will gain permanent stats when she wins. Legion Commander can snowball really quickly if she keeps winning her duels.
Huskar - Has strong regen when his health is low. If you get him at low health, make sure you finish the job with a nuke skill. Otherwise it would be so frustrating not to kill him when he is at low health.
Other than those, all the other characters play pretty standard and are predictable enough. If you know about the characters I mentioned, you won't be an obvious noob since you will be able to avoid lots of embarrassing moments lol. Let me know if these are similar things I have to watch out for in League.
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In terms of items you'll generally just have to find items that compliment your character. I generally like items that make me more mobile or escape in the early game. This allows me to pick my engagements, control the map, and save my team mates. Then on the late game, that's when I focus on heavy hitting. But if you're character is already mobile, then I guess strengthening your damage or disabling items would be the best choice.
The community is generally pretty okay. Everyone does tend to blame someone when your team is badly losing but just take people's advice. I find that the most rude types of people in Dota2 are usually the Spanish players but you won't understand them and they pretend not to understand you so it's okay! xD
