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Ironfisto
02-20-2007, 08:51 AM
The Playstyle guide
with lots of light-hearted humor

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Psychology of DOTA (miniguide)
last updated 2nd of February 2007
(taken from http://forums.dota-allstars.com/index.php?showtopic=117807&st=0)
Author : D3kst3r


Psychology of DOTA (miniguide)
last updated 2nd of February 2007

Table of Contents

1. Writer's Foreword
2. The Different Faces of Dota
3. Last Words


1. Writer's Foreword

Ok so by now you're probably a self proclaimed pro or trying to get into this somewhat elitist game. You've read about the heroes and what they can do. You've studied all the items and builds carefully and you've probably got a favorite hero that you feel comfortable with.

Heck you probably think I'm catering to an idiot by writing this guide. You my friend, may be correct. However what you should know before venturing into the dark alleys of Battle.net is the kinds of people you will encounter. This guide will either inform, amuse or piss you off. Either way lets take a look at the "people of DOTA!(drumroll)".


2. The Different Faces of Dota

The Chinese Gold Farmer

First of all, this guy probably got into DOTA from playing World of Warcraft and failing grades at school in order to play World of Warcraft. You will notice that whatever is happening whether your entire team is getting wiped out or your base is under attack, this guy will always do one thing.

Yep, that's farm up super-dooper-drop-your-pants-zomg-bbq items! Someone should tell him the game only lasts around 1 hour and after that everything he earns will be gone. Oh well I guess there's some sort of pleasure in amassing virtual goodies that don't exist in the real world. (PS. if you think I'm racist I'm Chinese myself.)

Strategy: Gank him. That's it. He'll be too busy pushing forward in the lane and won't be thinking about battles or ganks.

Preferred Heroes: Alchemist, Doom

The Wannabe Hero

Whether it be taking all the leavers items, farming up until late game and getting Beyond Godlike all of a sudden, or posting hundreds of replays on Dota-Allstars.com as hans2; this guy will go out of his way to get the phatest of lewt, highest amount of XP etc. He will probably not help you in a gank unless he's 100% sure he'll get a kill and make himself look good. Wait til late game and let him carry the team.

These guys could be a blessing come the 50th minute mark. Or if not then they're as useful to the team as 3 Lothar's Edge's on a Stealth Assassin.

Hey, what can I say? You play to win, you play to look good infront of everyone.

Strategy: Deny and harass until he gets pissed off and ragequits. If he stays then applaud the other players on his team and he'll also get pissed off.

Preferred Heroes: Clinkz, Clinkz, Clinkz, Naix

The Rambo

Ever seen guys who will rush into a fray of 5 enemy heroes and die and then start spamming words to the effect of "ZOMG NOOBS YOU DIDN'T HELP ME!!!! (Rambo has left the game). These guys have a seriously difficult time figuring out when a gank is coming, what minimap pings mean, why 5v1 is not odds to be proud of etc. My advice to these guys: "Stay the hell away from casinos." Often they're colorblind (I kid you not I got a friend on Bnet who is colorblind and gets confused when he sees the minimap) or they're still between being a noob and being an average player.

Strategy: Let him feed!

Preferred Heroes: Centaur, Bristleback

The Newbie

A newb and a noob are too different things. A newb is a new player who will contribute to the team and follow orders and generally ask question which will make him a better player. A noob is someone who has played for over a year and still get owned by everyone and spams in chat and ragequits after dying. Newbies should be treated with care and caressed... Maybe not caressed but you should all help these people out and give them pointers.

Strategy: Tell him that to win the game all you have to do is reach the enemy fountain. (I ain't joking, it's actually worked for me once. Yes, I am slightly sadistic.)

Preferred Heroes: Stealth Assassin, Sniper

The Silent Veteran

These are the ones to watch out for. During pre-game chat they'll say very little. After getting a triple kill they'll say nothing. Even after getting Beyond Godlike they still won't gloat or show off the fact. Why don't they speak much? Because they're so good that they're used to owning and also they're too jaded to speak to random people off the internet.

Strategy: Either run or gank.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Leader

Usually a player will start pinging ganks and typing "b" or "push" into team chat. These people are the leaders and generally have a good strategic look on things. Leaders are vital to victory during a game.

Either that or they're power tripping. You be the judge.

Strategy: If you find out who's calling the shots on the enemy team, gank him while a lone hero on your team does a blind push and then retreats. He'll be too busy typing and signalling for everyone to gank that he'll be vulnerable for about 5 seconds. And if you actually believe this piece of advice then I recommend also getting Agannim's Sceptre on Naix.

Preferred Heroes: Techies

The Quitter

These people are defeatist in nature. Your team may lose all its outer towers and one inner tower and these guys will be the first to say: "GG." They'll also be the first to quit after an entire lane full of rax has been owned. These people have lost the fight before it's even started so the best thing to do is to run back to fountain once they've just been owned and ragequitted. That way you can call first dibs on their nice items

Strategy: Gank him a few times and it'll be 4v5.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Never-Say-Die

Gotta love these guys. The exact opposite of the Quitter, these people will stay til the very bitter end and will often be seen defending the lone Throne all by himself against 5 enemy heroes. Give these people a compliment since they're a dying species. Heck give em a war medal since they probably fought in the trenches of World War 2 in a previous life.

Strategy: Poor lad. Go easy on him unless he's owning your entire team using the leavers items.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The 12-Year Old

"ROFL PWNED LMAO!" Yep, these kids have just hit puberty and have raging hormones. They should probably be venting this rage on Counter-Strike but here they are on Dota. During pre-game chat they'll be saying all the stupid goofy stuff. The good thing about kids is they're easy to own due to their slower brains and bad judgement.

Strategy: Do what I do in real life. Ignore little kids. There are more productive ways to spend your time.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Elitist

In every community, and the Dota community too, there will be elitists. These people look down on anyone slightly worse then them at Dota. They'll gaze at newbies with undisguised contempt and horde their knowledge from others like it's all they have. Elitists are everywhere and there's little you can do about them except get into name-calling competitions.

Strategy: Since elitists are a curse upon their own team, perhaps you should be encouraging him to further discourage his own team mates.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Coward

See trouble. Run to fountain.

These guys are as useful to your team as a chair is to a whale.

Need I say more?

Strategy: Gank them from behind. This confuses them as the fountain is also in the direction of danger for them.

Preferred Heroes: Stealth Assassin, Sniper, Clinkz

The Casual Player

In the pre-game chat these people will be like: "Hi, how are you guys?" and usually be ignored. In real life they are a father of three and has just gotten home from his day job to play Dota. What do you do about these guys? Well give them pointers so they don't get killed too often.

Strategy: If you are pro then simply kill them be also tell them why they died and what they did wrong so they can improve and get deeper into the game.

Preferred Heroes: Sniper

The Mathemetician

Asian Dota players are renowned for their maths skills and will often rush their first item known as the Abacus of Doom which gives +100 to intelligence. But since this doesn't exist in game they'll use their maths skills to own everyone. Before battles they'll calculate how much mana they need to do how much dmg over how much time. They'll consult their Orb stacking charts and crit probability statistics etc. and have a tiny shriek of joy for beating their personal best -cs.

My advice is stick near these guys as they seldom screw up. Unless they get ganked that is... or unless their mother starts yelling at them in real life to go study. In that case they feed.

Strategy: Things like crits and evasion are a bane to the Mathematician since that makes the equations less certain. But nothing is more dangerous to them then their high expectations parents. Now you study hard and become a lawyer ya' hear!

Preferred Heroes: Lion, Lina, Crystal Maiden, Zeus

The Partially AFK

While you're working your butt off trying to secure victory for your team, these guys are munching on chips and cutting their nails and glancing at the screen every so often. These people don't really care and just play Dota because they have nothing else to do. You'll notice them sitting in the fountain for around 10 minutes while they go take a dump. Luckily these people are a dying breed since Banlists and ivory poaching is making them extinct.

Strategy: Pfffft.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Know-nothing Know-it-all

"**** NOOB. I know what I'm doing. Dagon on Juggernaught is the way to go."

Ok so they managed to own a noob using their lame build and from then on they stuck to it. No matter what you do, they'll still stick to their original decision and get their Agannim's Sceptre for Phantom Assassin or Eul's for Naix.

Strategy: Tell them that getting the Dagon for Juggernaught was a nice idea and also tell them they should get a Mystic Staff so they can spam Dagon.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Donald Trump

"Lol I killed you dude." "BANNED!"

These guys have one rule that they follow: "Anyone piss you off, then omgz0r BANNED!!!!!!"

Why? Because Donald Trump plays Dota and there's no such thing as a FiredList. (Rosie_ODonnell has been banned for verbal abuse).

Strategy: Creating Bnet accounts > Banlist.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Unaware

So you just got ganked by 2 enemy heroes while your ally is beside you creeping. They still don't know what happened. These players will frustrate you to no end. Their slow reflexes mixed with their lack of sight makes them a major liability.

Strategy: Blinks and stuns. They won't know what's going on.

Preferred Heroes: Any

The Backdoor Bandit

Unlike normal Dota players, these guys are sneaky as hell. They'll wait for everyone on the enemy team to pick heroes before they pick so that they can choose a hero that counters all of them. While you guys are ganking, he'll sneak up on your towers and rax and own them with no resistance. You'll barely see him all game but by the time you do he's amassed a vast fortune, hasn't died at all and has owned the majority of your rax.

The fact is that these people are cowards. Cowards that are highly intelligent! (OMG NO!). And that mix by itself is dangerous.

One day you'll be off going to work with a family and kids by your side. The next day you'll come home and find the Backdoor Bandit has married your wife, your kids are calling him dad and somehow he's managed to get the lease on your house leaving you in the gutter with nothing. Sneaky bastards...

Strategy: Boots of Travel asap!

Preferred Heroes: Gondar, Clinkz, Stealth Assassin, Furion, Tinker

The Team Member

We love these guys. They will be the first to get wards, help in ganks, get gems, follow instructions and the like. They'll get an average score but will fetch and sit and keep your feet warm on lonely nights.

Strategy: They need to be killed off quickly and repeatedly so that your Stealth Assassin and your Clinkz can both run around and cause havoc.

Preferred Heroes: Treant, Tide, Keeper

The Pitbull

As soon as they hit lvl 6, bam, it's hero killing time for them. Farming is for wusses. They'll either get first blood or be first blood and will typically go with heroes like Pudge and Balanar. Their ultra aggression mixed with their confidence makes them dangerous. If you ever end up in prison and sharing a cell with these guys then be prepared to have a new boyfriend.

Strategy: Run to fountain with 10 HP left. Pitbull chases and kills you. Towers own Pitbull. You'll give him a hearty LOL. Afterwards he'll say it was definitely worth it.

Preferred Heroes: Balanar, Pudge, Juggernaught

The Maphacker

Maphackers play for one reason only. To win no matter the cost whether it be their Bnet account... or their Soul! They are ungankable, know when to attack rax, will farm none stop until they are forced to retreat and will hunt you down while you are neutral creeping. But remember that deep down inside they just crave a bit of happiness which is missing in their life. Awwwwwww grouphug.

Strategy: Don't pick invisible heroes as they're useless against the maphacker. It's a never-ending war between the Trumps and the Maphackers so leave them be.

Preferred Heroes: Stealth Assassin, Nevermore, Zeus, Nerubian, Furion

The Guide-Freak

After reading one strategy guide, they'll follow it to the letter. On the plus side this means that they'll be highly methodical and will usually make all the right decisions regarding purchasing items. On the downside they have zero flexibility and creativity. Might as well slap in a couple of AI opponents instead.

Beware if you choose one of their heroes and don't go by their strategy guide though. They'll start acting self-righteous.

Strategy: Take an educated guess what build they're going to create (won't be hard.) Then counter it!

Preferred Heroes: Any

(continue below)

Ironfisto
02-20-2007, 08:53 AM
The Micromanager

With barely 100 HP left, they'll manage their hero so well they'll escape a gank, end up with a kill, return to fountain and still have enough time to do the laundry. These people will almost always get a chicken at the start which will become their secretary and manage their appointments for them while they calculate how much mana the enemy needs to kill them while they're leeching XP with only 20 HP left beside the tower.

But the scariest ability of these people above all is that they can rub their stomach while rubbing their head and counting backwards in odd numbers from 100.

Strategy: Any invisible heroes should foil their dastardly plans.

Preferred Heroes: Meepo, Chen, Chrow, Furion, Keeper of the Light

The Role Player

In all your time playing Dota you might only see one of these guys. They are as rare as a dark albino. Also they're are as scary as one... Here's your basic conversation with a Role Player:

RolePlayer: Hush... I fear the enemies draw near these woods. A fell voice is heard in the air.
Player: OMG don't just stand there help me!
Enemy has owned Player's head for 275 gold!
Enemy has owned RolePlayer's head for 280 gold!
Enemy has just got a Double Kill!
RolePlayer: It is a dark day indeed. We have been vanquished but our souls will take their vengeance!
Player has left the game.

Oh and I often enjoy taking on this persona when I'm drunk. When I'm sober I'll watch the replay for some laughs.

Strategy: Since they're too busy typing to do much of anything, just kill them.

Preferred Heroes: Drow, Priestess of the Moon, Luna and any other Elvish based heroes.

The Afraid-to-Die

Sort of like the coward however with less running. Once again these people do little good for the team. However they do make good tanks late game as their usual item build is along the lines of: Vanguard, Aegis, Mek, Heart, Boots, Perserverance.

Can they get any kills? No. Can they survive getting ganked? No. Do they ever need to go back to fountain to heal? No.

Strategy: Most people don't realize that regeneration doesn't help much during battles since a battle is over in about 4 seconds. In that 4 seconds you might of gained about 40 HP from spending thousands of gold on regen items. Big whoop...

Preferred Heroes: Centaur, Tiny, Tide, Abaddon, Omniknight

The Over-Achiever

Usually these guys will fight an enemy until the enemy is down to 20 HP, at that point the enemy will start running back to fountain. Overachievers will pursue them and put everything on the line in order to catch their target. These are the guys who will run into the enemy fountain for that last hit and subsequently get totally ripped up. Their scores will usually be along the lines of 12-12 since for every kill they make they will also get killed.

Strategy: Bait bait bait!

Preferred Heroes: Spectre, Phantom Assassin, Rikimaru, Antimage

3. Last Words

A few minor updates were added. I believe we've almost covered the entire spectrum.

This post has been edited by d3kst3r: Feb 15 2007, 06:19 PM

SuZuKa
02-20-2007, 11:07 AM
hmm.. u forgot the solo-laners
these ppl always demand solo lane no matter what their hero choice is. Usually choosing hero with strong ultimate but bad lane control (sk, lion, etc) and getting themselves first-blooded.

StripperA
02-20-2007, 05:56 PM
Nice insight into the different faces on bnet..hahaha, sometimes i tend to be that chinese nong fu..farming is really addictive~

ruixiang
02-20-2007, 09:44 PM
i sumhow feel tis is lyk crapping leh ... No comments

freshie
02-20-2007, 10:12 PM
hmm.. u forgot the solo-laners
these ppl always demand solo lane no matter what their hero choice is. Usually choosing hero with strong ultimate but bad lane control (sk, lion, etc) and getting themselves first-blooded.

Normally game start before picking hero they will insist to solo. No matter what heroes combination enemy has, spammer like zeus, lich, vs, cm. Then after being spam insist team to send someone down or he wants a change of lane. Sometime they start without buying any ror , tango and flask. When everyone refuse to go all the way down to his lane, he say in ALL: Fark la, my team no team work one." then he quit game.

Another type is the KP Parrot. Before game start will spam go, start game, quick even there is only 4 player on the scourge side. These are usually kids, wants to start game fast, hopefully his team is winning. Most of the time they will give 1st blood or owned then kpkb and leave.

Preferred Heroes: Sa, Bone ( because they are always owned by invisible heroes so they think these 2 are imba)

The Blamer - These players normally blame others for everything, like no report, no help, no lend of tango or ror, almost everything can be blamed.

The Only-want-to-Win - In a 5v5 game, 2 noobs from sentinels feed and leave. So host ask politely do the scourge want a remake? since it is a 3v5 now. Scourge reply: "Cont, stay please, play till the end." thinking that now 5v3 they have the advantage, then after 20 minutes, their teammates keep dying, 1 by 1 start to leave.

The Only-Want-To-Kill - Always see this people complaining : "KS! you KSer! Dont keep KS me can?" They only cares about kill without looking at the opponent heroes or situation. Like heroes with escaping skill invisible, blink or maybe disable. 1/2 sec if you dont kill him, he will be able to ww or blink away. Or situation like enemy reinforcement all coming up yet he still needs 2-3 hits before he can kill and he is low in mana and hp. If dont help kill, he will be killed instead of getting a kill.

d0minic
02-20-2007, 10:55 PM
CoolX . what u say exactly makes sense lol.

weee
02-20-2007, 11:15 PM
heh..miss out one type

"Reflectionist"
Reflect on the games and write guides/essays like Ironfisto's and freshie's :)

MotarTeam-
02-20-2007, 11:36 PM
I feel that i belong to more than one category in fact .. lol

freshie
02-21-2007, 12:49 AM
heh..miss out one type

"Reflectionist"
Reflect on the games and write guides/essays like Ironfisto's and freshie's :)

it is like an entertainment to me actually, or more like a joke.

Ironfisto
02-21-2007, 01:02 AM
The Playstyle guide
with lots of light-hearted humor

Yea, its meant to be that way.
If you all notice, its quite similar to those horoscope guides you find in magazines and newspapers.
Or was it something else?

IamSaD
02-21-2007, 06:10 AM
oh u forgot the showoff type.....do abit then wan say until he/she can 1 v 5......the rest r jus for show.....onli he/she is real in the game.....lol

Kimchi.
02-22-2007, 05:58 PM
HAHA, uber funny. Sometimes I only care to farm, like the Chinese Farmner. =P Keep farming, but it's damn addictive to farm, looking at the amount of gold you'd get.

StripperA
02-22-2007, 06:20 PM
oh u forgot the showoff type.....do abit then wan say until he/she can 1 v 5......the rest r jus for show.....onli he/she is real in the game.....lol

the 1v5 thing sounds like Dois..

Linksysx-
02-04-2008, 07:26 PM
Haha nicely written

frenze
02-04-2008, 08:23 PM
the dude must hate hans2. clinkz clinkz clinkz lol

StripperA
02-05-2008, 07:23 AM
now got new one, The "BM Kia"

SG_Lancelot
02-05-2008, 02:14 PM
o.O lol u guys successful revived a dead thread

Absinthe`
02-05-2008, 08:38 PM
ROFL this is soo funy. damn good man.

KilluaxKillua
02-06-2008, 11:00 AM
LOL nice 1 i like the 12 yr old ones...keep up the good work...and hopefully u can come out a book ^^

SG_Lancelot
02-06-2008, 03:01 PM
the author is not him la.

i read tis from DA forums de. =.=

u all lyk crediting him

Alphamon
07-27-2008, 11:19 PM
o.o lol. speechless. bump

[N]aS[QtPiE]
07-28-2008, 07:30 PM
I really like to meet casual gamers. :|


To above Lance: Yah, they all crediting him although he has mentioned the article was drawn from DA. Actually it's been sometime ... this article.. The time when I started playing, already exist.