3 Of The Most Noob Friendly Dota 2 Heroes, And Some To Avoid

Dota 2 is an absolutely terrifying game for a newcomer. You have over 100 heroes to choose from, and you have a community of players who will chew you out for making the smallest mistakes. We’ve already covered some basic tips that can help you improve at the game, but taking it back to an even more basic level, how do you even know which heroes to play when you get started? Which heroes are good for beginners? That’s exactly what we are going to cover today.

Bane

What Does He Do: All of his spells only target a single person, so there are no skillshots that require precision aiming. Instead, you simply press the key for the ability, and click on the target. He has two built-in disables, so he is able to survive many gank attempts, and he even has a skill that allows him to weaken enemy right click damage deals, which can not only save your life, but it can also turn the tide of a teamfight in the late game.

Does He Need Farm: Bane needs almost no farm, and his abilities are powerful enough that he can still be a factor in the game without spending gold on anything but wards, a courier, and some boots.

Things To Keep In Mind: There is one special note about Bane that you need to keep in mind. His “E,” called Nightmare, requires some planning. If anyone attacks the person you’ve disabled, they will then become disabled themselves. This means you need to be careful who you target. If your teammate is attacking someone, you don’t want to Nightmare them. If someone is dropping a high damage area of effect ability, you don’t want to Nightmare them. Instead, you want to focus on spellcasters who are on the edge of a fight who can deal massive damage, but aren’t the priority targets being attacked by your carries.

Wraith King

What Does He Do: Wraith King (or Skeleton King as he used to be called) is a very versatile hero. He only has one activated ability, which is his “Q” called Wraithfire Blast. It’s a useful single target stun that hits over a decent range. So even though the hero is melee, he can still be useful from the fringe of a fight. He has a passive critical attack and lifesteal that he shares with the entire team, which is very useful for everyone on the time. The real thing that makes him so good for new players is his ultimate, which gives him a second life, and slows all enemy heroes in the area where he is killed. This gives new players a lot of leeway, because even if a mistake is made, you get a second life.

Does He Need Farm: Wraith King is incredibly versatile. He’s technically a carry, but if he falls behind he can be played as a support, which is great for new players who are having an issue farming. However, if he does get farm, he can be a force to be reckoned with, and he can chop down the other team in seconds. For players looking to try out their first carry, Wraith King is a great place to start.

Things To Keep In Mind: Just because you have a second life, doesn’t mean you can go crazy running into the enemy by yourself. You need teammates to follow up, because there is nothing stopping the enemy from killing you a second time. Just because you have two lives doesn’t mean you can throw them away.

Lich

What Does He Do: Lich is an awesome support that is extremely powerful against newer players because of his ultimate. All of his abilities are activated, so you will have a lot to do, but none are particularly hard to use. His “Q,” called Frost Blast is an ability that damages and slows a primary target and does less to anyone else in the area. His “W” is called Ice Armor, and it gives a teammate or tower extra armor and slows anyone who attacks it. His “E” is what really makes Lich so great for noobs. The spell, called Sacrifice, eats a friendly creep and gives Lich mana based on its health. This means he almost never runs out of mana, which is great for new players. His ultimate, called Chain Frost, bounces a ball of energy around the enemy, dealing massive damage. It can wipe out an entire team if they are bunched up, and can change the tide of a game.

Does He Need Farm: Lich can be useful with nothing but boots. His “Q” and “R” do massive damage, and he doesn’t need any items to keep himself in mana, as his “E” takes care of that for him. New players don’t need to worry about where to find that precious gold, because they can still have huge contributions to the game with no money at all.

Things To Keep In Mind: Lich’s ultimate will target both creeps and enemy heroes, so ideally, you’d like to find a place to cast it where there are minimal creeps and lots of enemy heroes. That’s not to say you shouldn’t cast it when the situation is not ideal. Too many players try to hold onto their ultimate looking for the perfect time to use it, and instead end up missing out on some valuable damage. Just don’t use it when there is only one hero, unless it is to secure a kill with a single hit. Also, the value of consuming an enemy creep extends beyond giving mana. In the early game, it takes away gold and XP from the other team, so use it every time it’s off cooldown, even if you don’t need the mana.

Heroes Commonly Called Noob Heroes That Aren’t

There are a few heroes that, when picked, will immediately make your opponents call you a noob for playing them, and as such, you might think these are the ones you need to play when you are just starting out. However, you’d be wrong.

• Sniper: He is a hero who stands far back, right clicks to attack enemy heroes, and drops an ultimate that kills anyone at low health. It all sounds so easy, but it isn’t. Positioning is so important for Sniper, and if you are new, it’s hard to know where to be. He has such a low HP pool that even a support can blow him up with ease. When you are just getting a feel for the game, Sniper is actually a hero you should avoid. Additionally, he needs to farm up a lot of items to be successful, and if he doesn’t he is just free kills for the other team.
• Riki: He’s invisible, how hard can it be? The fact is, Riki can be countered by any kind of invisibility detection, all of which is very cheap. You need experienced teammates to remove the enemy wards, and when you are just starting out, this isn’t going to happen often. Like Sniper he needs to snowball with farm and kills to be of any use, otherwise, he’s just an invisible guy who dies the moment he shows himself to the other team to attack.
• Drow Ranger: Drow suffers from many of the same misconceptions as Sniper. She stands far away and right click attacks, so therefore she’s easy to play. However, she needs a tremendous amount of farm, and like Sniper, she’s very easy to kill. In spite of being easy to kill, she really cannot afford to die, as any time she isn’t farming or getting kills, she is falling behind.

Once you get all of this down, make sure you actually keep track of your Dota 2 stats, so you know that you are actually making improvements.