Dota 2/Gameplay

Dota 2 is quite a complex game with lots of mechanics one needs to take note of. This page will explain all of it in detail.

Heroes
A Hero is a player character in Dota 2. There will always be 5 heroes on each team at the start of a standard match. Heroes each have their own unique attributes, abilities and playstyles. Like most other games, every Hero has health and mana. Health is obviously a Hero's current vitality. Once it runs out, the Hero dies. Mana is used for casting abilities as well as using some items.

Heroes will earn experience and gold over the course of the game. Gold can be used to buy items from shops, while experience lets heroes level up. Leveling up will improve a Hero's attributes as well as letting the player learn or upgrade an ability. Every Hero has a level cap of 25.

Abilities
All heroes have abilities that have a variety of effects, from small buffs that strengthen themselves to devastating spells that inflict major damage. Most heroes have 4 abilities, 3 of which are standard abilities while one is considered an ultimate. Ultimates are usually more powerful than a Hero's other abilities, though are more costly to use.

Standard abilities can be upgraded up to 4 times, though they can only be leveled once every two levels. Basically, every standard ability cannot exceed level 1 until a Hero is level 3. Ultimates can only be leveled 3 times, no earlier than at levels 6, 11 and 16. The only exception to this leveling system is Invoker, which will be explained on his Hero page. Upgrading abilities will make it more effective, such as increasing its damage and reducing its cooldown. Sometimes, upgrading an ability will also raise their mana cost, meaning you'll have to expend more mana to use the upgraded ability.

There are a few types of abilities:


 * Active abilites are abilities that have to be manually activated by the player. These abilities can have all sorts of effects, such as buffing an area, doing damage on a target or summoning a unit. Most active abilities use up mana and has a set cooldown. If a player does not have enough mana or an ability is still in cooldown, they can't use that ability. Active abilities abilities can be split further into sub-categories based on how they are used.
 * Target point abilities will affect the area on which it was cast on.
 * Target unit abilities will affect the unit it was cast on. Sometimes it also affects nearby units.
 * Channeled abilities are abilities that prevents the player from performing most other actions while the Hero is using the ability, including moving.


 * Passive abilities are abilities that grant their effects as long as they are learned. These abilities will usually be a constant buff (usually called an aura if it affects an area instead of a unit) or a luck-based attack like a counter attack or critical hit.


 * Autocast abilities are abilities that can be toggled to apply or stop their effects. Usually these abilities affect a Hero's standard atack.


 * An attribute bonus is an extra passive ability that is shared among all heroes. They will increase all 3 of a Hero's attributes by 2. It is usually leveled after all the other abilities have been mastered, or to compensate for a weakness like a lack of health or mana early on in the game. Unlike other abilities, attribute bonuses can be upgraded up to 8 times.