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Defense of the Ancients

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File:VariousDotaVersions.jpg
The various DotA versions.

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Defense of the Ancients, commonly known as DotA', is a crappy mod created for the game Warcraft 3 (by Blizzard Entertainment). Originally developed for Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (RoC) by Eul, the map was later unofficially ported into the Warcraft 3 expansion pack, The Frozen Throne (TFT). DotA is popular among players who are unskilled at standard TFT. Currently, several variants of the map exist under the name of DotA. People who cant afford WoW play this game

Gameplay

Concepts

Since DotA is a custom map, some of the game concepts are very different (and much simpler) from the original Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos or The Frozen Throne. The original game and the DotA custom map, however, do share some similarities, such as usage of modified Warcraft characters, adaptation of Warcraft spells such as Heal, and items such as Boots of Speed.

For the DotA map, two bases are set at opposite corners of the map. In each base is situated a central building known as the Ancient, from which the map derives its name. The goal of the game is to destroy the Ancient of the opposing team and to defend one's own ancient. Ancients used for each team are commonly The Frozen Throne/World Tree (in the variants Classic, Allstars); and the normal Town Centers for either side (in the variant Outland). Three lanes join the two bases. A river runs diagonally through the center of the map, perpendicular to the three lanes. Each team has a number of defensive towers in each lane, placed on their side of the river.

The teams consist of up to five humans, each controlling a single hero, and a computer which controls creeps. Standard variants do not support the artificial intelligence (AI) for computer controlled heroes. A variant known as DotA Mercenaries has allowed more computer controlled players, and is commonly used for training purposes or when other human players are not available to play with. Some developers are coming up with test versions of DotA maps with variable-skill AI players.

The opposing bases produce troops, known as creeps, every 30 seconds, beginning at 1 minute 30 seconds. The creeps are produced in sets (also known as waves or spawns) composed of a number of ranged and melee units, and path down the three lanes available on the map towards the opposing team's base. As the creeps travel along these lanes they will battle any opposing creep, heroes, or towers they meet. Towers possess superb firepower compared to the creep, so it is difficult for creep to advance past towers without assistance of a hero.

Certain versions of DotA (e.g. Allstars and Mercenaries) have Runes in the river which can be picked up by any hero to gain bonuses for a short time (such as Double Damage, Regeneration, Haste, and Illusion), while other versions have different uses for Runes (e.g. Challenge activation in Outland).

Without the influence of heroes, the game cannot quickly be won by either team. Creeps will battle each other and then sacrifice themselves in futile attacks on the towers. However, in practice, there will usually be a slight imbalance of power over time due to the specific placement of towers, creep paths, and other variables (due to slight tweaks over a number of versions, the "advantaged" side varies). This imbalance, however, is so slight that the presence of even a single hero for any amount of time will negate it.

Introduction to Heroes

File:Dota hero attributes.png
A snapshot of the attributes for a Level 1 spellcaster hero at the start of an Allstars game

Heroes are ranked by level. Upon gaining a level, heroes receive bonus attributes (see below) and a skill point to be spent in learning a new or upgrading an existing skill. Heroes may gain levels during the game by earning experience. Experience can be earned by killing creeps, which is known as creeping. Neutral creeps of varying difficulty are also planted throughout the map, and they may also be killed for experience and gold. Neutral creeps are not programmed to do anything except battle other characters who come too close; as such, they exist only to be killed for experience and gold.

Hero Attributes

Heroes possess three main statistics, known as attributes (Strength, Intelligence and Agility) with every hero having a Primary Attribute. The Primary Attribute can be determined based on icons shown on the status panel, as depicted here (Strength depicted by a 'fist' icon, Intelligence by 'mind', and Agility by 'foot'). Increasing the Primary Attribute of a hero will increase the hero's damage. In addition, increasing the attributes of a hero will enhance corresponding statistics for that hero.

  • Strength enhances hitpoints and hitpoint regeneration. 1 Strength point = 19 HP, 1 Strength point = 1% HP regeneration increase
  • Agility enhances attack speed and armor rating. 7 Agility points = 1 armor, 1 Agility point = 1% IAS (increased attack speed)
  • Intelligence enhances mana points and mana regeneration. 1 Intelligence point = 13 MP, 1 Intelligence point = 1% MP regeneration increase

Hero Statistics

Heroes also possess a variety of statistics that may be altered by inherent skills, purchased items, or changes of attributes:

  • Attack Damage indicates how much a hero's attack subtracts from the recipient's hit points. Increasing the Primary Attribute of the hero will increase its attack damage, where every point of increase in the Primary Attribute increases the attack damage by one point.
  • Attack Speed determines how fast the hero uses their attack. A hero with double the attack speed of another hero would, therefore, strike twice as often in a given window of time. Attack speed is determined by a base speed for each hero, and it is increased by agility.
  • Hit Points represent how much damage a hero can absorb before he is killed. Hit points regenerate with time to a maximum number. The maximum number of hit points a hero has and the rate at which it regenerates is a function of the hero's strength attributes. Higher strength heroes have a higher maximum number of hit points and regenerate faster. Hit points are indicated by a current and maximum value.
  • Mana Points - A hero's mana is the amount of energy the hero has for utilizing abilities or casting spells. Most (but not all) abilities are powered by mana. Mana is also regenerated over time. The maximum amount of mana and the rate of mana regeneration is a function of the intelligence of the hero. Mana points are indicated by a current and maximum value.
  • Armor Rating - A hero's armor rating is how much physical damage to the hero is reduced, where physical damage excludes damage from spells.
  • Movement Speed - Determines how quickly the hero travels over a given distance, excluding the effects of spells. The movement speed is a base value of roughly 300, which is different from hero to hero, but may be modified by abilities or items. There is, however, a specific cap of 522 to movement speed that cannot be exceeded, though most heroes will not encounter this cap.

Summary of Attributes vs Hero Type and Statistics

A summary of the hero types based on Primary Attributes:

  • Strength - usually a powerful melee attacker.
    • Pros: High Hit Points, fast HP regeneration rate, high damage, usually have a stun/disable spell
    • Cons: Attack is melee range only, low armor, low attack speed, slow movement speed, weak early game
    • Examples for Outland: Giant of Dragon Turtle, Spinewrath, Dominator
    • Examples for Classic: Commander of the Abyss, Dragon Knight, Mannoroth, Garrondel
    • Examples for Allstars: Rogue Knight, Skeleton King, Centaur Warchief, Slithereen Guard, Tidehunter, Doombringer
  • Agility - usually archers, assassins, or rapid attackers. Can be either melee or ranged.
    • Pros: High Damage, fast attack speed, high Armor, passive abilities such as Critical Strike or Evasion
    • Cons: Low HP, lacks disable ability, weak early game
    • Examples for Outland: Disintigrator, Aquasoul, Lividus
    • Examples for Classic: Mageslayer, Zuljin Andorhall, Troll Warlord
    • Examples for Allstars: Drow Ranger, Bone Fletcher, Juggernaut, Lightning Revenant, Phantom Assassin, Stealth Assassin
  • Intelligence - usually spellcasters.
    • Pros: Usually ranged, high maximum mana, fast mana regeneration rate, powerful spells, strong early game
    • Cons: Low HP, low armor, weak late game
    • Examples for Outland: Stormweaver, Stan, Voodoo Shaman
    • Examples for Classic: Drenia Darkhaven, Wavebreaker, Soulrender, Purity's Disciple
    • Examples for Allstars: Crystal Maiden, Necrolyte, Lich, Lord of Olympia, Slayer, Shadow Shaman

Special exception for Outland: Please note that strength/weakness at any point in the game are usually irrelevant for Outland; due to its game mechanics which adjusts the difficulty level after a specific time interval.

Game mechanics

Heroes may gain experience and gold by killing (or pawning) heroes/creeps from the opposing team, they can only gain a similar fewer amount of experience if they stand within a certain range of enemies that are killed. While the killing of heroes is not the stated aim of the game, it is nonetheless one of the pursuits towards which any experienced player strives. Every kill/death score of heroes is displayed on the top right corner of the game screen, with a layout similar to the score sheet of First-Person Shooter games. However, killing of heroes affects the gold input for a player, hereby affecting the whole game itself, since a player requires gold to buy items, and items determine the direction of the game.

Each player may select a hero at the start of the game from a catalog of heroes (with the exception of certain game modes which force a player to use specific heroes, such as Multimode for Classic; All Random mode for Allstars; and Set mode for Outland). Players generally only exert control over this hero but exceptions exists whereby certain hero abilities or purchased items may allow the hero to gain control of creeps or of summoned creatures. The selection of heroes in DotA games is extensive (and may increase with newer versions). For example, there are over 70 different heroes in DotA Allstars, or 40 in Outland.

Hero attributes and abilities may be augmented or modified by purchasing items. Items can be purchased using gold which is obtained by slaying creeps or other heroes. Gold is also obtained by destroying towers or other structures. Hero kills made by the creeps in your team will result in the gold being placed in the team coffers and distributed to every team member. However, players may not access the general team coffer. Some items cannot be purchased outright and have to be built using other items, determined by a specific recipe. Generally the higher the cost or the complexity of an item, the greater its influence on the hero's abilities. Some items grant abilities to the hero rather than augmenting a pre-existing ability or attribute.

Due to limitations in the coding model's behavior (e.g. Orb effects) and the Warcraft game engine, and to avoid over-powering a hero (on some occasions), not all items may work with each other or with every hero, known as "stacking". As such, experience in the behavior of all items is very much an advantage in the game, to avoid stacking the wrong items.

Heroes who die are respawned at an area known as the fountain. However, spawning occurs only after a waiting period which lengthens as the hero's level increases. Gold may be paid out to respawn prior to the end of the waiting period with the amount of gold necessary being proportional, once again, to the level of the hero. The death of a hero generally results in gold being subtracted(except in -id mode(item drop) in Allstars from the amount of gold the player in question controls.

Victory can depend on both the player's skill and teamwork. A single skilled player can make short work of a single opponent; but likewise, several players, with proper cooperation, can easily return the favor. All variants of the game are designed with soft and hard counters in mind for items and heroes alike, and thus some heroes will be better equipped to defeat certain heroes than others.

Some DotA fans have formed clans specifically for this game, such as:

Classic Clan BvA/Clan DUMB and TrHu@Northrend Gateway
AllStars Clan TDA@Azeroth/Lordareon Gateway and Clan DPC@Azeroth, Clan Mota@Azeroth, Clan Gank@Azeroth, Clan Plug@Azeroth, Clan L3CR@Azeroth, Clan FAG@Azeroth and many more.
Outland Channel "Outland" Northrend Gateway

Different Flavors of DotA

DotA Classic

This series is the original DotA, which began with Eul, the creator and first editor. This RoC map is considered by most DotA players to be the most balanced map series for DotA. Eul, the original editor and creator of DotA, has since declared his map to be open-source, and currently there is no official editor for the RoC DotA maps.

However, there are still unofficial editors whose maps are hosted frequently. The most notable current editors are Fluffy_Bunny (3.7 and the 3.8x series), Ryude (3.7x series), and Danite (Rumble 3.x series, Danites Hell, and Multimode 4.0). DotA Classic for RoC has clans that continue to play against each other and also hold tournaments.

The most popular version on most servers is 3.7 (created by Fluffy_Bunny), while 3.6d is still played in Asia. The 3.7x, 3.8x and Rumble series are all played in decent numbers in public games.

CHAOS

CHAOS is a Korean-language port of DotA, and is not popular outside of Asia, though it enjoys cult-like popularity there.


Allstars

Main article: Defense of the Ancients: Allstars
File:DotA.jpg

Development

Currently, in most versions of Allstars, the map contains many more heroes and items than does the original DotA, and is updated frequently, which may explain its ongoing popularity. However, this popularity sparked a controversy over who ought to be credited for its fame. For instance, a number of Classic players resent Guinsoo for having 'stolen' their game, especially since he is alleged to have similarly 'borrowed' most of his triggers, spells, heroes and items from other people; Guinsoo, for his part, maintains that the map was created from scratch and based only spiritually on Eul's work. Regardless, Allstars remains widely played, and is the most popular Warcraft 3 custom map of all time.

Bugs in version 5 of AllStars prompted many to offer fixes to Guinsoo but the development of the code was opaque and release schedules were discretionary. As such, the map forked in version 5.84b. Guinsoo went missing, and IceFrog took over as head of project since version 6.

Currently, players have shown increasing interest in the 6.xx versions as with each consecutive version, more bugs are fixed and the map is believed to be more stable and balanced. Version 6.27b, the most current official version, is the most frequently played on Battle.net and LAN parties. It has been noted that many South-East Asian countries still frequently play 5.84c on the Battle.net servers.

Currently, DotA Allstars is popular among many players around the world, as observed on the Battle.net servers and the PvPGN network of private servers. Players of DotA Allstars, particularly in the Asian region, normally go to cybercafés for friendly matches and cash tournaments.

Dota Allstars was also featured in the Malaysian and Singaporean World Cyber Games 2005. Version 6.27b is stated to become the next official version for league and tournament play.

Blizzard has officially recognized DotA Allstars as its first Spotlight Map entry in the Battle.net Hall of Fame.

Clan TDA (Team DotA Allstars) of Battle.net's "Azeroth" gateway (serving the East coast of the United States) is the clan officially charged with arranging DotA Allstars matches. Recently Clan TDA has opened a branch at the West Coast gateway, Lordaeron, and the Europe gateway, Northrend.

Outland

DotA Outland is another Frozen Throne variant of DotA, maintained by Softmints. It is less well-known than Allstars, but updated far more frequently. It is more hero-based than item-based, a slower-paced game than Allstars, and the heroes are entirely different.

Unique characteristics of DotA Outland

Some information partially adapted from the DotA Outland page (as written by the Outland creator).

  • Compared to DotA: It's a more hero-based Aeon of Strife, with less emphasis on buildings and upgrades, and a faster game.
  • Compared to Allstars: Less emphasis on crushing the opponents with powerful items; though victory through powerful item builds is still very possible.
  • Compared to Tides of Blood: More heroes and less emphasis on buildings.
  • Items are far less powerful and more character-specific. (e.g. don't use a Lothar's Annihalator with a hero like Iviyst or Lividus.)
  • Recipes located outside the entrance of the fountain, four books on pedestals. Level 4 items aren't imbalanced, considering generally high gold costs and only moderately strong bonuses.
  • The "Challenge" aspect (see below).
  • Usage of Waygates for teleportation.
  • Destroying enemy towers gives Energy which can be used to upgrade friendly towers or purchase additional troops (or troop upgrades, a soon expected addition).

Challenges

Challenges, much like the Rune powerups in Allstars, are an interesting aspect of Outland. A player picks up a rune, gets a positive buff (Bloodlust, Invisibility) and is then given a challenge to complete. If the player succeeds, he gains 1000 gold; failure will cause the loss of 1000 gold and a level.

The Challenges are:

  • Assassination - a hero on the enemy team is singled out, and must be killed within 3 minutes.
  • Survival - survive for 5 minutes, with a 2000 gold bounty on your head, you are enemies to both your creeps and towers, and their creeps - no hiding in your base. Your location is pinged for all players every 7 seconds.
  • Gold Rush - gather 2000 gold before you die, bloodlusted.
  • Rampage - kill 50 creeps before you die.

Only one challenge of each type can be active at any one time, but two challenges can be held at the same time by a single player (advisable to choose Gold Rush and another challenge).

Heroes

The hero variants of Outland differ from other versions in many ways. Firstly, experience gain is slower at the start of a game, and items take priority. Secondly, the heros are much more functional towards their purpose, for example, the Red Stain is an excellent "hero-killer", yet its "pushing" (See Lingo below) skills are weak, unless its entire item build (order and selection of items) is focused upon it, causing it to become only moderate at both.

Hero killing is also a harder task to perform, as heros are generally more resilient, and all heroes have access to an "escape move" (ability which aids in escaping from a hero trying to kill another hero). There are many "special" hero types in Outland, which have entirely different gameplay from other heros, most notably the "Shadowdancer" whose movement style is based on "blinking" (short distance teleportation). Heroes with these abilities are designated by red text displaying the abilities when selecting the hero.

Jargon

The following are commonly used in DotA games as a mean of communicating with other players. They are also known as the "DotA language".

Note: this is by no means an exhaustive list; also, certain terms are only applicable to particular variants of DotA.

Instructions

  • b - Short for "back", used to cue team members to retreat.
  • d - Short for "drop", often used to urge other players to drop a lagging player.
  • rax - Used to signal team members to destroy their opponents' Barracks (The term rax/racks originates from the short form for Barracks).
  • all/siege mid/top/bottom - Used to signal team members to push/rush to a certain lane. Done when players want to ambush enemy heroes, counter push or just do an attempt to take down "rax".
  • bait - Used to signal a team member to rush ahead, often prompting the whole group of enemies to swoop down on him while the rest of his team comes out secretly and wipes out the whole opposing team.
  • Forfeit (ff) - The acronym "ff" is used mainly in TDA games and other forms of higher level play as a way for a team to forfeit and withdraw from a game before the Throne/World Tree is destroyed.

Actions

  • back (b) - Used to cue team members to retreat.
  • boom - Instruction to detonate mines laid by the Goblin Techies (Allstars), to damage enemies.
  • BS - Short for backstab. An act of attacking a hero from behind.
  • chak/chakra, mana, mana plz - Used to cue the Keeper of the Light (Allstars) to cast chakra magic on the player to restore mana.
  • care - Short for be careful. Used to warn players of danger. Mainly used when far into enemy territory or when a player see's an enemy.
  • creep - A creep is a unit that is not controlled by a player. Killing a creep yields gold for the player that killed it. In DotA this refers to those fighting on the two sides as well as neutral ones. Also used as a verb to refer to killing creeps.
  • creep deny/deny xp - The act of killing one's own low HP friendly creeps, denying experience and gold to enemy heroes.
  • cont - Used to cue players to continue on with the game despite leavers.
  • Defend - Used to cue team members to defend a tower, barracks, or lane from the opposing team
  • farm - This refers to the strategy of exclusively killing creeps in order to purchase better weapons and gain experience faster. More specifically, in the absence of enemy heroes.
  • flood - Teams "flood" when multiple players on the same team mass in one lane, usually with the intent of destroying an enemy tower or creep generator, but sometimes also to "gangbang" enemy heroes.
  • gangbang (gb) - the act of multiple heroes converging on one hero to kill that hero. Ceaselessly repeated gangbanging is also known as clusterfucking.
  • gank - When a hero is gangbanged from several sides. A portmanteau of "gangbang" and "flank".
  • Micro - The act of waiting for the last hit on an enemy creep to gain more gold, or killing your own low hp creeps to deny experience and gold to your enemy. Also refers to handling more than one unit ie Furion with treants.
  • Missing - When a hero abandons his lane in an attempt to ambush and kill enemy heroes in another lane, generally by hiding in the woods for extended periods of time.
  • Missing in Action (MIA) - The acronym "mia" is also used to warn teammates of a missing enemy hero.
  • pawn/pwn/own - Generally means 'to kill an enemy hero.' Even more appropriate when the 'owned' hero/player is killed repetitively.
  • push - Pushing is the main objective of DotA. It is accomplished by staying in a lane and advancing on enemy towers to destroy them.
  • RM - Short for remake. Suggests the host to remake the game and for the players to join.
  • Sozownt - An exclamation named after an infamous game disrupter known as "Sozo". An exclamation typed by players with the intent of disrupting a game of Dota.
  • stay - When one or more players leave a game, often the remaining players will encourage others to continue playing by telling them to "stay in the game", or 'stay' for short.
  • TP - Short for "teleport". Teleport is a spell used to instantly teleport to a friendly building or creep. TP is also used to signal Chen, A sentinel hero, to teleport a friendly player back to the team's fountain.
  • w/zap/wrath/zeus/wog - Instruction for the Lord of Olympia (Allstars) to cast a spell which strikes all enemy heroes with a bolt of lightning.
  • h/heal - Instruction for an ally (often specifically directed at the Holy Knight (Allstars)) to cast a spell which heals an allied hero for a certain amount of hitpoints instantly. The Holy Knight's particular spell heals all allied heroes regardless of location which explains the often directed instruction. The same can also apply to Omniknight (Purification) and Necro'lyte (Death Pulse).

Strategies

  • bs/backstab - the tactic of ambushing (backstabbing) heroes; which is common among stealth heroes such as Stealth Assassin and Lifestealer (DotA) or Bounty Hunter and Bone Fletcher (Allstars).
  • pump/pool/stack/feed - the process of team members working together to give items or gold to a single player, especially expensive and powerful items for the purpose of strengthening a particular hero; sometimes seen as bad sportsmanship. In DotA, gold and items can both be given. In Allstars, the feature of giving gold has been disabled. However, you may still give items to your allies in Allstars.
  • backdooring/skipping - tactic of going behind the current enemy line, with characters that have teleporting features, such as the Prophet (hero in AllStars), or skills that grant invisibility such as windwalk, and destroying enemy structures without killing creeps first. Clan TDA defines backdooring as initiating an attack on an enemy structure without the presence of supporting creeps, though it is specifically allowed by Clan TDA rules. Many players consider this underhanded to the point of cheating and it is hotly debated as to whether backdooring should be allowed in official games.

In DotA skipping means not engaging with enemy creeps/heroes in a particular lane and going directly for the enemy barracks.

Insults

  • feeder - Refers to a player who is repeatedly killed by opposing heroes, thus "feeding" those opposing heroes extra experience/gold at a faster rate. Also commonly used to describe a person who commits suicide intentionally to aid the enemy team. A feeder is generally an annoyance or a burden to the team who may ultimately lead to the downfall of their teammates. Feeders are also less commonly known as 'atms' (from the bank teller machines) on some servers. Feeding, however, may also mean helping a teammate obtain a particular item, thereby to 'feed' the hero to support the team.
  • lamer, noob - A player who exploits the imbalances or bugs in a game to gain the upper hand without merit of skill. Occasionally used as an insult to newbies.
  • leaver - A player who leaves a game intentionally. Commonly used as an insult to refer to a player who leaves because they dislike a game or its players or because they believe that they cannot win. Generally a leaving player makes it harder for his teammates to win and makes victory by the other team less satisfying. The leaver is the number one cause of ruined games. Also known as a "leafer"
  • puller/lagger- A player who lags too much from the other players may be disconnected due to high lag times. Prior to disconnecting, the game is frozen and a countdown timer is shown. Some players deliberately pull their connections (i.e. physically pulling out the Ethernet cable, hence the name) to lag out. Some pullers do this to avoid getting blacklisted for leaving, others just cannot bear the shame of outright leaving the game.
  • "†" - more commonly used by the European DotA population, sent to opponents to taunt him after a kill, refering to a gravestone (input via ALT+0134 on the Numeric Keypad).

Comments

  • bg - Short for "bad game." Usually used when a leaver/lagger/newbie destroys the entire gameplay.
  • gg - Short for "good game." Literally, it is just an expression to show that the players appreciate the game. May also mean "a good match"; or said out of courtesy during the game's end. However, it is often used to signal the end of a game or a point where the game cannot be won by a team. Increasingly, it is used to mean "nice try" or "I got you" by a player who has killed another player and is generally meant to taunt.
  • mh - Short for "maphack". This acronym is generally used to accuse a player(s) of having an unfair advantage through third-party programs that keep the entire map revealed for the accused player(s).
  • rr/rm/rmk/rs/re - Short for "restart round"/"restart match"/"remake"/"restart."
  • gl hf - Short for "good luck have fun". Usually used before a game start to indicate good sportsmanship.
  • dd ka - Short for "Don't Die" and "Kick Ass". Usually used before a game starts to motivate teammates.
  • dbd - Short for "DotA Breakdown." Usually refers to the severe amount of stress or pain caused by playing too much (or too little) DotA. Just as excessive alcohol intake leads to a hangover, excessive DotA leads to a DotA breakdown. Symptoms include distorted vision, inability to type, diminished verbal skills and splitting headaches.

Hero classifications

Specific to Classic

Note: this applies for DotA Classic only. j' - Defenders are heroes who, in general, have area of effect spells. They use these spells to prevent creeps from destroying their team's buildings. Examples: Frost Maiden, Necrolyte, Tormented Soul.

  • Hero Killers - Heroes which are best at killing other heroes. They include the Troll Warlord, Storm Spirit, Lycanthrope, Mageslayer.
  • Siegers - Siegers are heroes, usually with high hit points or armor, who are built to destroy enemy buildings. As they can usually stay attacking for a long time without inteference, they are termed siegers. Examples: Pit Lord, Demon Magess, Juggernaut.
  • Supporters - As the name suggests, Supporters are heroes who aid others. They usually have a secondary use. Examples: Purity's Disciple, Soulrender, Aquasoul.

Specific to Allstars

Note: this applies for DotA Allstars only.

  • AOE - Short for "Area Of Effect". AOE spells are usually ultimates that are cast by certain heroes, causing devastating amounts of damage or long-duration stuns in a large area within a short period of time. Heroes with AOE spells are almost always used in higher level play and clan matches due to their ability to quickly disable and/or kill the opposing team within a relatively short period of time.
  • assassins - heroes which specialize at killing other heroes quickly through physical damage. All of them have some form of invisibility. (Bone Clinkz/Bounty Hunter with WindWalk, Stealth Assassin with Permanent Invisibility) These heroes are generally preferred in non-competitive games, due to their ability to quickly kill lone heroes and ease of escape.
  • disablers - heroes which possess the ability to disable other characters with Hex, or any form of stuns (Demon Witch with Voodoo/Impale, Shadow Shaman with Voodoo/Shackles, Bane Elemental with Nightmare/Fiend's Grip).
  • nukers - heroes which possess the ability to cause massive amounts of damage in a single instant, usually via use of multiple abilities (Lion with Impale+Finger of Death, Slayer with Dragon Slave+Light Strike Array+Laguna Blade, Zeus with Lighting+Chain Lightning+Global Lightning).
  • permabashers - heroes which possess the ability to stun without the use of skills, usually with the help of items such as Cranium Bashers or from their innate ability to stun (Slardar, Troll Warlord, Faceless Void).
  • Perma-disablers - Heroes that possess 3 or more disables and can theoretically, keep a hero infinitely disabled as their mana pool allows. Perma-disable is often achieved with the aid of disabler items such as Eul's Scepter of Divinity and Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse( Rhasta, Bane Elemental, Demon Witch)
  • pushers - heroes which can quickly destroy enemy towers/creep generators due to their ability to summon additional units (Prophet with Treants, Keeper of the Light with Ignuus Fatuus/Liberated Souls, BroodMother with spiderlings)
  • spammers - heroes which spam offensive spells repeatedly in an attempt to hero kill or disrupt the opponents play (this frequently causes enemy heroes to go back to their "fountain" to heal, thereby wasting time and Hero experience points) (Zeus with Lightning Arc-2 second cooldown, Razor with Chain Lightning).
  • stunners - heroes which possess the ability to stun other characters, such as Impale, Storm Bolt, Magic Missile and Burrowstrike.
  • tankers/tanks - heroes which can absorb huge amounts of damage (high HP/armor), typically used to destroy enemy towers (Treant Protector with Living Armor, Centaur Warchief with high Strength, Morphling with high Strength).
  • setters - heroes who can set-up an array of enemy heroes to be attacked by the team. Usually involves heroes with a massive area effect ability, such as Darchrow's Black Hole, or Magnataur's Reverse Polarity.

Miscellaneous

  • allpick abuse, ap abuse - The situation where in a game with the "allpick" option enabled, a team intentionally coordinates to pick the cheapest heros in the game, or heros that compliment each other very well (e.g. picking all stunners or all high-hitpoint strength heros) so as to give them an advantage over their opponents who have more varied heros. It must be noted that although there is nothing illegal as such about allpick abuse, the practice is considered to be unsporting behaviour.
  • Banlist - Short for WC3 Banlist. A third party program that contains lists of unwanted players. The banlist is often used to check a player's ping, what country they are from, and to signal for and kick unwanted players.
  • imba - Imbalanced. Used to indicate a hero, item or team that is considered inherently to be too strong.
  • inhouse - a game in which players who join are from a specific channel/clan, usually seen as more of a competitive style of play as opposed to public games. Not to be confused with TDA game.
  • ks - Kill Steal. Used to indicate the action of a friendly hero coming and stealing their teamate's kill; for example a hero attacks an enemy until near death, and the hero who "ks-es" delivers the final attack to the enemy, thereby getting a kill point and gold. May also be extended to tower kills. Usually this type of action is not encouraged.
  • player 13 - Neutral creeps. Usually appears in death messages, when a player dies to them. One can chose to die to neutral creeps to deny experience and gold to enemy heroes.
  • pb - "Pay back", when asking team member to lend gold. In most cases, gold is requested when a player is close to affording an item he/she wants. Large sums of gold are normally transferred a few seconds before death, in order to avoid the gold penalty one takes on death. (Note: most TFT versions have eliminated the resource sharing feature)
  • pub - a public game, filled without the help of the TDABOT or friends. Usually plagued by leavers or suiciders. The banlist program helps to alleviate these problems.
  • priv - a private game or TDA game.
  • Roshan - The strongest neutral creep in the map, near the first tower on the Scourge side. All players of a team will receive +800 gold if the killing blow is made by a player on the team (Allstars).
  • Hydra, Scary Fish, and Siege Golem - Strongest Random supercreeps in Scourge and Sentinel when -sc (supercreeps) is enabled (Hydra is the strongest supercreep). recieves +400 gold if they killed (Allstars).
  • (country code) - A two or three letter code used in the game name to represent the country of the game host. This is important to reduce latency within games.
  • TDA - A private game filled with the help of TDABOT. On US EAST/WEST you can /w tdabot !game (# of ppl needed) (GN) and it will spam the Clan TDA channel. This is one way of filling a game with people who for the most part wont leave or suicide. You must either get safelisted via forum contribution or have a ladder icon to do this.
  • TK - Short for "Teamkill" or "Teamkilling". There are different forms of this. Killing a teammate who is shadowstriker or doomed, who was going to die anyway, is good. It denies the enemy gold and XP. However, someone getting your teammate killed, who would not have died otherwise is bad for obvious reasons.
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