Dota 2 Guide: 10 Things for Getting Better at The Game

Dota 2 is arguably one of the most tricky and complex games. Every decision, every move, every moment matters. With games that last between twenty to fifty minutes, any one of those minutes can easily shift the game's balance. One team fight is all it takes, and in this guide, you can learn 10 things for getting better at the game.

Play the Objective

This is arguably one of the most important things to remember, yet sometimes, the best players may forget it. What does this mean? Well, you should always prioritize taking objectives over anything else. After winning a team fight, you can always farm a bit more or chase that low-hp puck running away. Instead, you should use the opportunity to take towers, push down lanes, and capture outposts. Remember, the objective of the game is to destroy the enemy Ancient. It isn't about who gets the most kills.

You will have many matches where you are in the lead, dominating. Meanwhile, you and your team forget to push, dragging the game on. All the while, your enemies are farming and setting up opportunistic ganks, and suddenly, you lose a team fight. The next thing you know, you're all dead for 100 seconds, and none of you have buyback. Yeah. That sucks.

So, you should always plan accordingly and constantly keep the pressure on the enemy team by playing the objective; they can't farm well if you keep pushing and attacking lanes. They will have a hard time counter-attacking if you keep up your pressure, almost like football. This is one of the most important things for getting better at the game.

The Power of a Buyback

This brings us to the second most important thing: know when to back; a good buyback can literally save and change the entire course of the game. Often, you will have moments where you either die early in a team fight or are just dead from a previous gank. Your teammates are losing, and they are a man down. Your buyback might be enough to turn the tides, as your enemies usually use most of their abilities and items, such as Black King Bar and Satanic. 

Buybacks have led to teams winning the biggest Dota 2 Tournaments, so knowing when to use your buyback is crucial to doing well in the game. Knowing your timing is the biggest way to get better at buybacks and, thereby, at the game. 

Generally, you want to consider if you can teleport close to where the team fight is happening. If you cannot, or if you feel that the team fight will end by the time you get there, you shouldn't bother buyback. If you are a carry that depends on items on cooldown and the enemy has a lot of stuns, you should refrain from buying back. So, for getting better at the game, buybacks are incredibly important to understand.

Power Word Ward

These little guys might initially seem fairly simple, but you can never underestimate their power. See, vision is one of the most important aspects of the game. As they say, knowledge is power. And knowing where the enemy is is the biggest piece of knowledge you could have. 

Furthermore, they have many hidden benefits. Deep wards let you know the farming pattern of your enemies. Remember, even if you don't see the enemy under your ward, you still know where not to look. And this gives you a rough idea of where they might be instead.

Sentry wards also let you neutralize enemy vision and give you consistent vision to ruin the lives of any prospecting Riki player. And remember, Buy the damn wards. It does not matter if you're a carry or a mid-layer. If you don't see your team buying and planting them, just do it yourself. Observers are free, and sentries only cost 50 gold.

Communication

Communication and teamwork are also key to a Dota game. This can be adapted in quite a few ways. During the laning stage, if you don't see an enemy hero for quite a while, there is a good chance they are rotating to another lane for a gank. This usually would take your allies by surprise, so you should mark them missing by Ctrt+clicking the enemy portrait or using your chat wheel. 

While chatting or voice communication is more effective, sometimes it isn't feasible. In these cases, the chat wheel can help you improve your coordination with your teammates. Communication isn't just about talking with your teammates. You should also tell them when you're falling back, going for a gank, or rotating. They aren't wizards, and they cannot read your minds. So, communicate your plans before you enact them.

Furthermore, if you notice a tactical oversight, such as a gank that wouldn't go well, or if your teammates aren't looking to buy the correct items, you should suggest they get them. Most of the time, they'll follow your advice. It is also worthwhile to keep them motivated and their morale high; a motivated team will give more effort to the game.

Item Builds: Variation, Timing & Usage

Getting the right item is important and often paramount to having the edge over the enemy team. While the general item guides help, certain items may shift the entire course of the game. And more often than not, these items may seem unusual or counterintuitive.

Suppose there's an enemy hero with lots of saves, like Glimmer Cape, Aeon Disk, and Eul's, as a carry. In that case, you should get a nullifier, or as a support, you should look to buy the glorious sheepstick [for the uninitiated, that's the cooler name for a Scythe of Vyse]. If the enemy carry has a satanic or seemingly unkillable due to their HP and/or lifesteal, get yourself an Eye of Skadi or Spirit Vessel. If there are a lot of stuns, get a BKB; if the enemy team has a lot of magic damage, get a casual cloak in the early game or the various magic resistance items. We can go on, but the point is that you do not have to and should not build the same item builds each game.

This also extends into correctly timing the items. Your farming items should be your first priority as a carry. If you're dying constantly as a support, you should get a glimmer cape as soon as possible. For some heroes, certain items scale them at exponential levels. For example, the item Blink Dagger for heroes like Tidehunter and Earthshaker makes them from harassers and annoying supports and offers to godly initiators that have unmatched playmaking abilities. A necrophos with a radiance, many carries with BKBs, and so on shifts how the game can be played, and you should always strive to hit that timing. So, you should try to get into fewer fights without that blink dagger or battle fury.

Once you get these items, only reveal them when they're most useful. This often takes the enemy by surprise and may provide the necessary edge to help you win team fights.

Hero Timing

Hero timing, on the other hand, is a much more subtle matter. Certain heroes in the game are just made to excel at certain points of the game. Some are really good in the early or mid-games, and others are absolute monsters in the late game. It is important to know that and keep it in mind when playing a game of Dota 2. Ideally, you want to enter into team fights and pressure the enemy team when your lineup is at its strongest, while you want to detract from any team fights when the enemy is at their strongest.

Having a team focused on the early game means you have to seize the initiative at that stage and end as early as possible. Some heroes hit their timing at the mid or late game, and if that's the case, try to play around the enemy and not get bogged down in any nasty team fights. 

It is also useful to know the enemy's timings. If you know the enemy has a great late-game lineup, you should be prepared to end things early. Gloating is fun and all, but that gloating won't matter when suddenly you can't kill the enemy carries.

Everybody Makes Mistakes, So Never Give Up

This is a rather important mindset that is often overlooked. Dota 2 is a beautiful game, and this is a tried-and-tested phrase. "Everybody makes mistakes" has a twofold meaning. You will mess up—a lot, actually. But you cannot let that bog you down, ignore it, maybe try to learn from it and do better. You must focus on the game and focus on what to do next. 

This also applies to the enemy; if you make a mistake, so can the enemy. All it takes is a single overstep, a single miscast, and a single overextension. The game's thrill and the battle rush can make people do many silly things. Your job is to take these opportunities and punish the enemy as hard as possible. And this brings us to our second point. 

"Never give up," See, Dota 2 doesn't give you a way to surrender in-game, and there's a very important reason for it. You are simply not meant to. Even at the last possible second, you can turn things around; all it takes is a single mistake from the enemy or a single spark of brilliance from your team. Don't give up until your ancient is dead because no matter how beaten you are, remember that people have gotten back from worse.

Farming Efficiency

Improving your farming efficiency is a very statistical and skill-heavy way to improve your game. Everyone has to farm; as a carry, you should know how to stack camps. Always keep your eye on the clock. Trying to stack the camp is worthwhile if you're reaching near the minute mark and haven't cleared out a camp. Suppose you are playing an illusion hero or have made a manta style. In that case, you should use it constantly, sending the illusions down to farm a camp or two or even sending them down one of the lanes.

Don't be afraid to use your abilities to farm, even your ultimate, so long as the cooldown isn't too egregious. If your allies are farming a specific lane, go to another lane. As a support player, you shouldn't just go around carrying a stick for 20 minutes, while that might just be what you end up doing in the end. Stack camps for your carries; you get a small amount of gold from them. When towers get pushed, you can move to defend them, killing the lane creeps and getting some much-needed gold for yourself. Generally, as a support player, farming is a tertiary task, but this does not mean you should never do it.

Understand Your Role

Your role in the game differs based on what role you have, but it is paramount that you stick to it. A hard carry needs to focus on being greedy, farming, and getting strong. You are the most important person in your team, and you need to act like it. A midlaner should be able to get kills, win his lane, and go around annoying the enemies in other lanes. An offlaner needs to be able to provide buffs and empower his carry, or at least tank whatever damage would go the carry's way. A soft support needs to set the tempo and make plays, set up ganks and kills. A hard support has to ensure that their carry's life is as easy as possible.

Knowing your role makes you better at the game, but actually doing it is another matter entirely. You need to commit to the bit. Playing the opposite role is a great way of learning your lane and job. While that may sound counterintuitive, it helps you to understand what you need to do and how to best fit into your team. As a carry player, playing the hard support lets you understand how to keep yourself safer, gets you a new perspective, and ultimately helps you understand your role better.

Improvise, Adapt & Overcome

A bit of a meme to end things off, but as with most things on this list, it's an important thing to remember. Dota 2 is an incredibly complex game, reflected in the sheer number of ways things can play out. Your foolproof plan to have a killstreak by 15 minutes may end up in tatters because the enemy picked something out of the box that somehow counters your plan. And in the heat of the game, anything can happen. It is important to think on your feet and adapt to the enemy. If they are winning, try and get surprise ganks on isolated and lone enemies. 

Ultimately, Dota 2 is an ever-changing game with shifts in the meta that happen every few months. But these 10 things to improve your game are principles that will play a part no matter what and, hopefully, will let you win more games.

Check out our other guides:

• Dota 2 | New Hero Overview - Kez
• Dota 2 | Kez Hero Build Guide
• Dota 2 Guide: Positions Explained
• Dota 2 | 3 Easiest Heroes to Play
• Dota 2 | Ringmaster Guide
• Dota 2 | 5 Best Heroes as of Patch 7.37
• Dota 2 | The International 2024 Compendium Guide