How to watch The International 2017 if you have never played Dota 2
What is mid, where everyone is running to and how to understand what casters are talking about – short guide for those who never watched DOTA 2, but want to start.
It's pretty easy to grasp core concepts of DOTA2 if you have previous experience in RPG and RTS games and WarCraft universe, since first version of DOTA was born as a custom map for WarCraft III.
What's happening on the map?
The game is played between two teams consisting of five players each. Every player picks a unique hero before game starts. Heroes can't be changed after the pick is locked. Main objective of the game is to destroy your opponent's main structure – the Throne
Besides the Throne, every team's base consists of Barracks and Towers. Barracks produce auxiliary forces called creeps. Creeps are non-player characters that are spawned shortly after the start of the game. By destroying them, players earn gold and experience points, which allows them to learn new spells and purchase various artifacts.
Towers are long range defensive structures that protect the base, which is also called The Highground – since bases are situated on a high ground.
What are the differences between the heroes?
DOTA2 has 115 unique heroes. Every hero has a unique set of spells that are improved by leveling up. The amount of diversity that DOTA2 offers allows teams to create certain compositions that complement heroes' strengths and counteract their weaknesses.
DOTA2 is one of the few games where correct hero picks is a key to victory. Heroes are distributed in the draft phase before the match start. In this phase, teams take turns picking and banning heroes.
Where is everyone going?
Depending on team's strategy and coaches directions, five players are allocated between three main lanes (lines), where the battle takes place.
- Mid (Middle Lane, mid, center) – central line. This line is most known for aggressive duels in early game.
- Top (top lane, top) — uppermost line.
- Bot (bottom lane, bot) – bottom-most line.
Heroes can move freely around the map and leave their lanes to help their teammates or to form strong aggressive formations, depending on the situation.
Red and green squares on the map are Towers. Towers are broken down into categories depending on how far from the base they are: casters usually refer to them as T1, T2, and T3 (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3). Usually, final push occurs when all the Towers were fallen.
Besides battles and tower defense, players level up their heroes in the Jungle. Jungle consists of neutral creeps, killing which also yields gold and experience points. The process of leveling your hero is called farming. The main point of farming is the concept of last hit. Only last hits on enemy and neutral units reward you with gold.
Who is Roshan and why killing him is important?
Roshan is a unique and deadly monster, which spawns randomly every 8-11 minutes in his den, the Roshan pit (Roshpit).
If you manage to slay him, your team will be rewarded with gold. Also, Roshan drops Aegis (Aegis of the Legion). Wielder of that artifact is given the option to resurrect upon death.
After killing Roshan for the third time, he also drops Cheese - an item that instantly restores 2500 Health and 1000 Mana.
Because of that, Roshan's pit is a place of constant battle – one mistake or outplay based on Roshan can completely turn the tables of the game.
What are the other terms used by the casters?
Wards – items that can be placed on the map. They give vision, which is vital for reading your enemies' movements.
Gank - sudden ambushes on enemy heroes.
TP – usage of Scroll of Teleportation, which allows you to instantly travel to any friendly Tower or Shrine on the map after a short cast time.
Cooldown - a reloading time for spells and items.
Mana (Mana points) – a resource that is needed to cast spells and use items.
Smoke – item Smoke of Deceit, which renders all heroes over a certain area invisible and undetectable by enemy wards and creeps.
Stun – a spell that incapacitates a hero or a creep over a short duration.
First blood - first hero kill in the game, which yields additional rewards.
HP (Hit points) - represents the amount of life a unit (hero, creep, building) has remaining.
Short helpful video to revise the material.