10 concise fundamentals of HoN that we often forget.

[bittersweets]

10 basics of early game HoN that forgetting will result in your death and uselessness for the rest of the game.

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1. Pick a hero I know how to play. Often its tempting to try something newish and different, but I usually end up dead.

2. Make sure that my team buys wards, if they refuse to, buy them myself.

3. Make sure to ensure that I have enough regeneration to stay in my lane; It's best to buy more then necessary and be on the safe side.

4. If I'm a hero that can benefit from runes, make sure to check them every 2 minutes!

5. Never chase past tower! Scratch that, never chase! A hero kill is not worth a loss of experience, much less risking death.

6. Buy boots before level 6, the extra move speed will help me live through early game ganks.

7. At level 7 start pushing the tower in my lane. If they defend it well, switch to a different lane and help my teammate overpower a tower/get a hero kill.

8. I should buy stats, especially strength.

9. Watch the minimap! If I don't, I'm more then likely to get ganked.

10. Stay out of stun range unless I'm a tank and my team outnumbers theirs.

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Now hopefully this will help you learn them, but I have no clue how to help you remember them.

[Auricom1]

Some other ones:

- Try to convince your pub team (if you're playing a pub) to keep a 1melee 1ranged lanes if possible.

- Dont get greedy (in every aspect), dont steal lasthits from your carry lane partner, or KS if he's the carry, or try to gank a low hp enemy if no one else is on the map, it's very possible that he's just baiting.

- Always carry a TP (homecoming stone), it will always save you a lot of time, or save you from death if you're against arachna.

- Never autoattack creeps, that will only push the creepline torwards the enemy tower giving them free xp/gold.

- If you have a Scout on your team, and he hasn't spent any points in electric eye, feel free to insult his mother.

- If you're ganking a lane, remember creeps spawn every 30 secs, if you go from behind your enemy and encounter creeps, all your stealthy gank will be ruined and you wont have the upper hand anymore.

- Watch your enemies mana, a Pebbles with half mana can't instagib you.

[Archatype]

Why go back and buy boots at 1000 gold? Shouldn't you do it at 650 or something so you can teleport and feasibly have the boots earlier? Seems like you can't buy much else with just 1k gold. I like to wait till around 1800-1900 if I'm last hitting well. Also, boots alone won't save you from ganks.

Also, +1 to pick a hero you're good at. 9/10 times someone on my team goes war beast and I ask first thing "are you a good war beast?" and they say "lol we'll see"..../facepalm. Also equally bad is when people try to counter-pick based on what they've read on the forums and fail to realize that you have to actually know how to play the hero for it to be an effective counter.

Couple things to add:

1) Don't back at the same time as your lanemate unless you absolutely have to. It's a huge waste of exp and money if you do. Just play things cautiously in your lane until they return, and then you can b while they hang out and get exp.

2) Don't take runes if your mid is botting. The exception to this would be the invis, haste, or dd rune if taking it will give you a very good chance at a safe gank.

3) As hard as it is, resist yelling at and alienating your teammates. If a lanemate or something is diving or using skills poorly, you can correct him politely but calling your teammates noobs and stuff does nothing in the long run. At the end of the game, you can call the 0-9'ers feeds if you want :P

[_Archangel_]

- If you have a Scout on your team, and he hasn't spent any points in electric eye, feel free to insult his mother.

I lol'd

These are really good for newbies :)

[ForumTroll]

I disagree with point #1, if you never experiment and actually LEARN how to play the other heroes, what do you do when people pick your precious familiar heroes that you know how to play?

Experiment and learn before you get into serious games that you don't want to lose.

[Auricom1]

if you're a noob, the best way to learn is actually to stick to few chars, 1 or 2 at most.
Why? Because you will benefit more in the long run by mastering few chars, learning map awareness, learning to gank, to lasthit, tu combo and chain stuns/disables, to pick first targets in a team fight, to adapt to every situation, to juke, etc...
Once you learn thos things with some few chars, it will be easier to learn how to use other chars, you'll learn faster.

[ForumTroll]

Hmm you've slightly misinterpreted what I meant, or maybe I didn't express myself properly. By all means stick to one hero until you master it, then move on to another until you master that.

What I meant from my previous post was that if you stick with one or two heroes, master them and then never play anything else you're doomed for failure.

[Archatype]

I disagree with point #1, if you never experiment and actually LEARN how to play the other heroes, what do you do when people pick your precious familiar heroes that you know how to play?

Experiment and learn before you get into serious games that you don't want to lose.

You didn't read the beginning of his post:

"10 basics of early game HoN that forgetting will result in your death and uselessness for the rest of the game."

[Aubergin]

a scout in my team complained about lags when i asked why he had not skilled electric eye.

I hate scout.

[ForumTroll]

You didn't read the beginning of his post:

"10 basics of early game HoN that forgetting will result in your death and uselessness for the rest of the game."

Okay good point, I would rather win this one game than improve my skills and knowledge as a player to benefit me in the future.

[bittersweets]

Tektos, I fear you just haven't played long enough. I can play every hero, but I can only play a few heroes well enough to say, "I'm good with this hero, I won't make my team suffer by playing worse then my enemies."

Sure its all fine and dandy to learn new heroes, but there is no reason to force it; some heroes are just not for you. Let me give you an example.

I have trouble following my own fundamentals. Last game I picked Kraken, a hero that I'm not great with. I didn't feed and contributed early game and did fine initiating team fights etc. I ended up 0/2/5. This is not a score I'm proud of, our team won and everything, but I am not satisfied with such a score. I can and have done better against players of a similar skill with a hero I'm good with, so I only hindered myself by trying to play one I'm not great with.

Mastering Kraken would be pointless because I can and often do do better as different heroes. I agree however that knowing only one or two heroes isn't enough.

For the record I also broke 2, 7, 8, and 9, and my 2 deaths were from rune enhanced ganks on my lane.

[`Assist]

I can't believe no one suggest "Buy a chick/monkey"

[Auricom1]

I can't believe no one suggest "Buy a chick/monkey"
because it's not always necesary

[`Assist]

How is a monkey is not necessary when walking home to buy boot is ? You can just get the monkey to deliver that boot to you and stay lane to leech exp

[ForumTroll]

Tektos, I fear you just haven't played long enough. I can play every hero, but I can only play a few heroes well enough to say, "I'm good with this hero, I won't make my team suffer by playing worse then my enemies."

Sure its all fine and dandy to learn new heroes, but there is no reason to force it; some heroes are just not for you. Let me give you an example.

I have trouble following my own fundamentals. Last game I picked Kraken, a hero that I'm not great with. I didn't feed and contributed early game and did fine initiating team fights etc. I ended up 0/2/5. This is not a score I'm proud of, our team won and everything, but I am not satisfied with such a score. I can and have done better against players of a similar skill with a hero I'm good with, so I only hindered myself by trying to play one I'm not great with.

Mastering Kraken would be pointless because I can and often do do better as different heroes. I agree however that knowing only one or two heroes isn't enough.

For the record I also broke 2, 7, 8, and 9, and my 2 deaths were from rune enhanced ganks on my lane.

First off, I would appreciate if you didn't start your post with subtle stabs at "Tektos you're a noob".

Sure, you don't have to master EVERY hero (but this isn't what I was saying anyway, so you missed my point). I feel though, at least being capable with all/almost all heroes is a good asset in case you get stuck with a hero that isn't one of your pro few. If you think you're good enough at enough heroes to cover all situations that you could ever encounter then by all means ignore the others.

But I don't believe in this "that hero is just not for me" thing. The only time I've seen people with that view is when they haven't played the hero enough to become a capable user of it.

I agree only with the OP about point number 1 if it is a game you definitely want to win. If it is a fun game then what is the purpose in playing a hero you already have mastered in every aspect? You get nothing out of it other than stomping on people for your own amusement.

[Reonhato]

boots are overrated

[wtfiku]

First off, I would appreciate if you didn't start your post with subtle stabs at "Tektos you're a noob".

Sure, you don't have to master EVERY hero (but this isn't what I was saying anyway, so you missed my point). I feel though, at least being capable with all/almost all heroes is a good asset in case you get stuck with a hero that isn't one of your pro few. If you think you're good enough at enough heroes to cover all situations that you could ever encounter then by all means ignore the others.

But I don't believe in this "that hero is just not for me" thing. The only time I've seen people with that view is when they haven't played the hero enough to become a capable user of it.

I agree only with the OP about point number 1 if it is a game you definitely want to win. If it is a fun game then what is the purpose in playing a hero you already have mastered in every aspect? You get nothing out of it other than stomping on people for your own amusement.


It is true. Not everyone is good with all the heroes. Most people can do extremely well on certain heroes but doing mediocre on other heroes.

For example, like me, i do very well with Behemoth, Pharoah, Jereziah, Glacius, Slither, Archana, Elec, Magnus, Pollywood, Pebbles.

Heroes that i can play for the sake of my life: Thunderbringer ( yeah, i really fail with this hero lol ), The rest of AGI heroes, Zephyr, Devourer, Armadon.

I can play the rest fairly well but dont count on it.

[ElementUser]

Get a Courier.

[Zakariel]

It is true. Not everyone is good with all the heroes. Most people can do extremely well on certain heroes but doing mediocre on other heroes.

For example, like me, i do very well with Behemoth, Pharoah, Jereziah, Glacius, Slither, Archana, Elec, Magnus, Pollywood, Pebbles.

Heroes that i can play for the sake of my life: Thunderbringer ( yeah, i really fail with this hero lol ), The rest of AGI heroes, Zephyr, Devourer, Armadon.

I can play the rest fairly well but dont count on it.

Mmm, I'm similar to ^ as I have only played 80-85 matches, yet tried many a hero. I see no point in "mastering" one hero, then moving on...Can you ever say you've mastered a hero? Wouldn't that require you to take on an enemy team by yourself and kill them all, without your hp and mana going below 50%? that's mastering, but pretty much impossible unless you've been fed constantly.

Beyond the highly exaggerated example above, mastering one hero is boring as hell. I like diversity, and I've played a lot of the heroes. Like now, I'm just about to go and try Magebane, someone different from my usual Demented Shaman, Blood Hunter or Soul Stealer...If I die, and get crap scores, do I really have to care that much? I'm learning, so I'm definitely not going to kill a lot of heroes, or know the proper skill build or how to effectively use his skills. That comes from practice and the usage of him. If i like how he plays, sure, I'll play him again, now with a much better idea of what items to get and what heroes will blow my head off.

Hell, I randomly picked Shaman 5-6 games ago, and I love his style of tanking support ^_^ Bit hard to do that if I was mastering Legionnaire or Magmus, who i see constantly and so would be taken...

[ForumTroll]

I see no point in "mastering" one hero, then moving on...Can you ever say you've mastered a hero? Wouldn't that require you to take on an enemy team by yourself and kill them all, without your hp and mana going below 50%? that's mastering, but pretty much impossible unless you've been fed constantly.

I was using the term "mastering" in quotation marks to avoid what you've stated, by "mastering" i meant becoming fairly proficient in using the hero the the extent that you've kinda stopped learning new tips/strats/etc. with each new game. Not many people will ever really MASTER a hero in the way that you've described lol :p

[Cushie]

1. Always call MIA heroes, and the direction they are heading (If known)

2. If you want to try a new hero, keep HoN in windowed mode. When you pick, type in Google "Heroes of Newerth <hero name>'" (Without the <>). For almost every hero, one of the top results will be a rough guide on items and playstyle.

On a side note, im fairy proficient with quite a few heroes so far, but a lot of them are just "meh" to me....After seeing a lot of people play and utterly fail with them, it has discouraged me from even trying them out.

*EDIT*

Actually, while I look over the list its a surprise to see I have infact tried all but 5 heroes (Keeper, Nymphora, Wildsoul, Dark Lady, Bloodhunter) :)

[X7]

Rule #11: Chuck Norris is better than you... Forever...

[Archatype]

Rule #11: Chuck Norris is better than you... Forever...

welcome to 2007

[Hurfdurf]

I'd say that HoN is no different than any other competitive game and that communication is extremely important. Although the noob only pubs I'm in never feel like joining in me communicating :rolleyes:

[Kypkalorian]

- If you have a Scout on your team, and he hasn't spent any points in electric eye, feel free to insult his mother.

this.

[Fuse]

Actually, while I look over the list its a surprise to see I have infact tried all but 5 heroes (Keeper, Nymphora, Wildsoul, Dark Lady, Bloodhunter) :)

Keeper is fun, slow-paced, useful, and powerful. He has wards, invis, a massive group stun/dot as his ulti, and essentially permanently high dmg.

Nymph is squishy but powerful and versatile.

Wild soul is awesome and fun but slightly hard to get kills. Great pusher.

Dark Lady is one of the more nerfed agi heroes.

Bloodhunter is a very popular char because he easily chases fleeing heroes and has a horrid ulti that forces people to either flee and die, or stay and die.

[Wolfsong]

Get a Courier.

And not just monkey, make it a flying courier.

[AllDay`]

IMO two people should split the cost of the flying courier right off.

[Millet1]

Keeper is fun, slow-paced, useful, and powerful. He has wards, invis, a massive group stun/dot as his ulti, and essentially permanently high dmg.

Nymph is squishy but powerful and versatile.


And these are two i'm fairly proficient at. :)

I agree that not all heroes work with all people. Everyone has a strength and weakness in terms of the hero pool. Experimenting is fun to find out if the hero suits your tastes and play style.

As a suggestion, do read some guides before trying them out. I myself read guides on heroes i'm interested in beforehand. If i manage to get them on -sd or -rd then I can use them based on what I read. Everything else after that is at your own learning pace.

Good luck to you guys out there then~ Kudos to OP for this thread.

[bittersweets]

@tektos - Every game is a game I want to win. I play to win, and there is no reason not to.

[NinjaPants]

-If you can, try to single out an unlikeable person on the other team and make sure that their team dislikes him. Not only is this humorous and boosts your team's morale, it has the opposite effect on the other team.

(We just did this like a game or two ago. A teammate guy dc/d at start and this guy on the other team wouldn't remake. We made sure by the end of the game his own team was cursing him off. Needless to say, we won that game.)

[JukeryMaster]

I lol'd. I still remember this game when I asked a scout why he didn't put points in electric eye.

"useless ability"

The rest of the team proceeded to flame him.

[become_death]

1. Pick a hero I know how to play. Often its tempting to try something newish and different, but I usually end up dead.


The #1, by far, MOST important thing for any serious DOTA/HoN player to do is to have played every hero at least once. If you have not experienced, FIRSTHAND, the strengths and weaknesses of every hero, you are at a disadvantage when facing an enemy. Preferably you'd play each one twice, so you could refine the mistakes you made the first time.

The 10 rules you listed are only partially accurate, and are targeted specifically at brand new players who are unfamiliar with the genre and who tend to make very poor decisions based on their ignorance of game mechanics. Those rules you posted are extremely general, and in some cases just flat out the wrong thing to do. They're better off as a "learning tool" for newbies; when someone is experienced enough to explain exactly what is incorrect about each of those rules in some/most situations THEN they can consider themselves to be improving at the game.

I'll agree about wards and the minimap though... although those 2 are really part of the same "awareness" rule.

[Frog100]

6. Make sure to go back and buy boots when I get 1000 gold. This will make it impossible to gank me early game.

And you call these "Fundamentals"

Seriously.

[ForumTroll]

@tektos - Every game is a game I want to win. I play to win, and there is no reason not to.


Ah see I play video games to have fun, sorry for that.

[Isin]

If you're going to put dual melee in a lane, you'd better make sure you have 2 disables, or a combo like Electrician/Swiftblade.


Ah see I play video games to have fun, sorry for that.

See, I find it hard to have fun if I'm losing, especially when it's not my fault. I'm sure you can understand that.

[ForumTroll]

See, I find it hard to have fun if I'm losing, especially when it's not my fault. I'm sure you can understand that.

But playing a hero you haven't played 13,000 times before doesn't guarantee a loss. And if you DO lose because of choosing a hero you're not familiar with, it wouldn't be by fault of someone else, but your own. :rolleyes:



See, I find it hard to have fun playing the same hero 100 games in a row, using the same foolproof tactics you've been using to win the past 99 games and just stomping on the opposing team with no competition.

[archkyle]

at the very least play other heroes simply to "know thy enemy"

[bittersweets]

let me rephrase the one about boots.

Also, believe it or not these aren't targeted at beginners, this is targeted at the player that has played for a while but is struggling to do better. That player probably already knows most of these, its just a checklist to figure out exactly why you died and what you should have done better.

[DenyTheTruth]

Ah see I play video games to have fun, sorry for that.

Are you kidding me? No one plays DotA/HoN to have fun. This is a competition. This is war!

Seriously though, I plan to win. I have fun while doing so, but I play to win. If I want to play a game for fun I play my 360.


But playing a hero you haven't played 13,000 times before doesn't guarantee a loss. And if you DO lose because of choosing a hero you're not familiar with, it wouldn't be by fault of someone else, but your own. :rolleyes:

See, I find it hard to have fun playing the same hero 100 games in a row, using the same foolproof tactics you've been using to win the past 99 games and just stomping on the opposing team with no competition.

Playing the same hero 100 games in a row doesn't mean that the other team will play the same heroes. There are no foolproof tactics. You still have to roll with it. If I bought the same items as magmus every time I'd die. I have to change it based on what's going on.

[Invictus]

12: If you're in a pub game and someone on your team picks scout, then you have already lost the game.
(I have only seen a Scout played well once).

13. In Pub games, try to encourage your team mates to balance the types of Heros out - Ranged, Int/str/agi. - Yet again I have lost games because everyone seems to pick Melee str heros :S

14. Win, Loose or draw, Always be a good sport. Its only a game after all.

[Marcusino]

The #1, by far, MOST important thing for any serious DOTA/HoN player to do is to have played every hero at least once. If you have not experienced, FIRSTHAND, the strengths and weaknesses of every hero, you are at a disadvantage when facing an enemy. Preferably you'd play each one twice, so you could refine the mistakes you made the first time.

The 10 rules you listed are only partially accurate, and are targeted specifically at brand new players who are unfamiliar with the genre and who tend to make very poor decisions based on their ignorance of game mechanics. Those rules you posted are extremely general, and in some cases just flat out the wrong thing to do. They're better off as a "learning tool" for newbies; when someone is experienced enough to explain exactly what is incorrect about each of those rules in some/most situations THEN they can consider themselves to be improving at the game.

I'll agree about wards and the minimap though... although those 2 are really part of the same "awareness" rule.

And you think that is possible with Dota players around who scream noob in your face whatever thing you do? "Noob push, Noob back, noob don't feed, noob feed, noob take this, noob take that instead, noob is a noob, noob is a smurf, damn noob"

Eh. I see no good chances to pick a new hero cause people will cry.

[become_death]

You join games tagged "noobs only" when you're doing it. A semi-experienced player who's exploring new heroes will do fine there.

[rpg711]

Fundamental 1: HoN is a game COMPLETELY based on DotA, do not play if you think otherwise.

[SteveNick]

My advice in regards to hero selection..

Only bother branching out to learn new characters if it's a genuinely good character that would benefit your team. This is the method I use. I've played and can be effective with most heroes, but to this day, I still haven't tried characters like Magebane, Wildsoul, and Dark Lady, simply because I don't see a point. Noone plays them, and noone thinks highly of them. Why bother learning if it's not going to benefit my play?

[SteveNick]

12: If you're in a pub game and someone on your team picks scout, then you have already lost the game.
(I have only seen a Scout played well once).

The reason this is true is that any sensible, strong player at HoN won't pick Scout. I'm sure plenty of teams could win if a strong player picked Scout and the team was simply better, but a good player isn't going to pick him, simple as that. Bad players pick scout and lose horribly. In this way, it further inflates the idea that Scout is bad(which, he is).

[f4nt0m]

10 basics of early game HoN that forgetting will result in your death and uselessness for the rest of the game.

Being an experienced DotA player, I have comments on all of these. Yeah sure, you can say HoN is not DotA but the fundamentals are the same and some of these are either misleading or should be explained further.

1. Pick a hero I know how to play. Often its tempting to try something newish and different, but I usually end up dead.

This is ridiculous. It has some truth behind it but if you are always afraid of to try something new, might aswell just have stuck to Tetris. What I suggest is


Read a guide or two on the heroes to have an idea of how they work.
If you still don't understand the skills, try a practice game with the hero. Cast your skills on creeps to understand how things work. Time your attacks so you are familiar with the hero's animation.

2. Make sure that my team buys wards, if they refuse to, buy them myself.

Although this is good advice, it is not something that I would suggest as a rule of thumb. There are both alternatives and also reasons why you should not waste money on wards in pubs.


If you do not have a Courier, do not bother running back and forth to get wards.
If your main job is supporting or ganking, buy wards.
If your team is getting ganked like mad, buy wards.
If you need to carry late, do not buy wards

There's a possibility that you'll be getting a Whispering Helm - position neutral creeps (Hold Position with H) to act as your wards.



I think it is also important to learn exactly where to plant your wards before even planning to buy them in a game.

3. Make sure to ensure that I have enough regeneration to stay in my lane; It's best to buy more then necessary and be on the safe side.

Regeneration should be determined by what you plan to get next (i.e. If you are aiming to get a bottle, ensure you have enough regeneration to survive till you farm 600). If you continuously play with the 'buy more' idea in mind, you will be wasting lots of money on extra potions.

If you run out, pray you have a courier to bring you one (courier is ALWAYS USEFUL - how can anyone argue it is situational?)

4. If I'm a hero that can benefit from runes, make sure to check them every 2 minutes!

Get your teammates to check as well. Leaving your lane every 2 minutes can significantly affect your early game. Also, I feel this contradicts that you have mentioned 'always get wards'. If you have wards, you should know where the runes are...?

5. Never chase past tower! Scratch that, never chase! A hero kill is not worth a loss of experience, much less risking death.

This is the one point I would like to rule out. How can this even be considered a rule let alone a piece of advice? The word never is what is getting me. You will never improve playing safe. You will never play on a competitive level. You might have good KD ratio but seriously, statswhore much?

The great thing about these games (DotA, HoN, even LoL) is that playing it more will increase familiarity in the game. This is where it gets interesting - being a significantly experienced player allows one to be able to calculate the odds of winning/losing a battle taking into account of everything (items, stats, skills, levels, speed of opponent's backup, etc.). If you never pressure yourself to attempt to calculate these odds, I suggest you stick to Noob Only games.

6. Buy boots before level 6, the extra move speed will help me live through early game ganks.

Hah. Joke. So if I get to level 6 and I do not have boots, QQ?

The one rule is avoid getting Boots as your first item. Chances are your opponents are going to have a stun - Boots really do not protect you from this while stats and regen do.

About the level 6 thing, there really is no rule at all of when to get them. Just get them when you have the money and do not think you need anything else except the boots. For example, as an INT ganker I will usually rush Bottle and a Talisman of Exile before getting Boots just because I will be WAY more useful in battle. Running away faster counts as 'uselessness' to me, in my opinion.

7. At level 7 start pushing the tower in my lane. If they defend it well, switch to a different lane and help my teammate overpower a tower/get a hero kill.

Again, there is no rule to this. If you need to carry, you should try not to push and farm as much as you can in your lane while it's safe. If they defend it well, you should be happy you have creeps to farm near your tower. You cannot seriously be saying that Chronos should go off at level 7 to help gank?

8. I should buy stats, especially strength.

Stats and "especially strength" are important for survival. But again, is this guide just to decrease Death ratio? I cannot help but seeing consistency in that.

It is important to buy the correct items for the correct situation. Learn what the available items can do for you and you will have no problem in deciding what to buy. Stats are not always the best choice - if this were the case we would all be stacking Blessed Orbs.

9. Watch the minimap! If I don't, I'm more then likely to get ganked.

I agree with this. Map awareness is important. Also do not forget to warn teammates when your laners are missing, especially if you are in a pub.

10. Stay out of stun range unless I'm a tank and my team outnumbers theirs.

As previously mentioned, this is about calculating probability. Learn to calculate the chances of winning/losing battles and thats it. This last rule feels liek it was slapped on because you had 9 rules and couldn't think of a 10th noe. This rule is just saying "be good bait when you have to be". It has, however, been phrased extremely wrong... How can you avoid stun ranges if you have to initiate a battle? Sigh, there are just sooo many things wrong with this.

Overall I have to say the poster is teaching you how to avoid dying rather than becoming a good player. If this is the case, let me give you a quick guide:



Join 'Noob Only' games
Ensure everyone has lower PSR than you
Pick Scout and do not forget to max out Invi.
Buy Shrunken Head, Astrolabe, Portal Key, Assassin's Shroud, Restoration Stone & Enhanced Marchers.

If HP reaches below 80%, use Shrunken head
If HP reaches below 70%, use Portal Key to get out
If enemies still pursue and HP reaches below 60%, use Assassin's Shroud
Oh no! Revealed! Use your Astrolabe and Enhanced Marchers to keep running!
Still behind you? Restoration Stone FTW! Now use your Shrunken Head, blink out and then Assassin's Shroud.
GL with mana.

If the above fails, just idle at your base and you won't get deaths.

Pray your team wins for +PSR!


Good luck.

Edit: I don't believe the poster has put this 'guide' in his sig..

[FuzzyWuzzy]

1. Always have money to rebuy after 45 minutes into the game (lost a late-game yesterday when we had Dark Lady AND Madman, because they couldn't rebuy)
2. Keep one eye on the minimap. After MIA keep two.
3. Get a monkey courier if the others didn't. Standing for 15 minutes without items + boots is unacceptable.
4. Call runes / keep an eye on enemy movement towards the runes (i.e middle going top and returning without rune = rune bottom)
5. Play single player -> Learn juke spots (these are places where Line of Sight is limited, e.g forests, cliffs), creep pulling, creep stacking

[Benata]

This is a newbie post
dont make me conclude this

[Marcusino]

Fundamental 1: HoN is a game COMPLETELY based on DotA, do not play if you think otherwise.

Well use ****ing HoN names, not DoTA names, people get ****ing confused. Then I speak of the non DoTA Players who ignored DoTA thanks of a community calling everyone suck monkeys and worthless noobs.

[Kibuki]

My advice in regards to hero selection..

Only bother branching out to learn new characters if it's a genuinely good character that would benefit your team. This is the method I use. I've played and can be effective with most heroes, but to this day, I still haven't tried characters like Magebane, Wildsoul, and Dark Lady, simply because I don't see a point. Noone plays them, and noone thinks highly of them. Why bother learning if it's not going to benefit my play?

i'm personally very glad i branched out and tried the Dark Lady. after quite a few trying games, she gets to be a very enjoyable character! teamwork is key with her, as well as knowing game item mechanics (such as what scales with dark blades), and your opponent's metagame mentality

all in all, she my homegirl, don't hate :(.

i do agree though with this post on all points...which can be wrapped up into "use your brain to the utmost capacity". Early game stripped to its core is a very large efficiency game, greasing and lubing (oh baby) anything and everything to make you the most efficient farming/laning/leveling machine...wait til lvl 6-9 to start getting harder to earn hero kills.

P.S. by all means, if a hero early game is certainly playing stupid early game (such as letting creeps attack him as he auto attacks them back)...please capitalize and take advantage...give him a nice whack or two :P

[`14FAussie]

CARRY TPS!

[bittersweets]

@f4nt0m -

You should learn to think about things in multiple steps and think further then what comes next. Also, I suggest you look here (http://fallacyfiles.org/) to learn what a logical fallacy is and the different types that exist so you might avoid them in the future.

That said, I laughed so hard at your guide to staying alive. You should post that and get it added to the top guides.

[f4nt0m]

@f4nt0m -

You should learn to think about things in multiple steps and think further then what comes next. Also, I suggest you look here (http://fallacyfiles.org/) to learn what a logical fallacy is and the different types that exist so you might avoid them in the future.

That said, I laughed so hard at your guide to staying alive. You should post that and get it added to the top guides.

On first reading this I can only assume it was criticism assuming you are saying I have not reasoned my arguments out correctly. Have I understood this correctly? If so, I am pretty adamant with what I have posted and would like to hear your thoughts on anything you think does not sound correct.

Thanks for the compliments on my "Staying Alive" guide, I truly put a lot of effort into designing this through thorough brainstorming and decision making models.

[Eklypze]

I think this would be a more useful 10 things.

1. Always carry a homecoming stone unless you have Boots of Travel (I forget the HoN equivalent).
2. Get a courier, preferably flying, in order to minimize unnecessary Fountain trips (sharing control of the courier helps your team immensely as well).
3. Get to the point where you are not surprised by an ability a Hero uses.
4. Maintain good map awareness.
5. Try to push a tower that is close to being pushed by creeps as the game progresses (Ex: Pushing from your base all the way to their base gives the other team more time to prepare).
6. If you push by yourself after first towers are destroyed, then have a good escape mechanism (portal key, assassin's shroud, etc).
7. Work on your communication skills (If all you can say is LOLNOOBUBAD, then you are not being helpful).
8. When you reach late game it would be wise to have enough money to buy back.
9. Use the fog of war to your advantage.
10. Have fun! Whether that be winning or trying to see how many people you can put in the fountain with Kraken's whirlpool!

PS: Peeing before games will help to prevent Urinary Tract Infections.

[Endorphins]

the ppl saying not to pick new heroes because you will lose.. are retarded. if you play -ap competitively and have a set team for ih matches and you guys work well together, thats fine. but for the ppl who dont do that, playing the same few heroes over and over again is incredibly boring. also, knowing how other heroes work more than just reading their abilities helps playing with the heroes you are good with. the point of this game, aside from its competitive side, is to have fun, which is why they call it a game. i bet that strictly competitive players find this fun too, so even then it is still about having fun. if you find it fun to play the same hero over and over again then by all means go ahead and do that. but dont discourage ppl from trying new heroes by calling them noobs and raging at them.

also saying i play this game to win is fine and good. but you would be even better by playing other heroes and getting to know them better so you can counter them better. thinking like the enemy and being able to anticipate them is incredibly helpful.

but like other ppl said, if you are just starting this game it would be best to stick to one or two heroes just for the sake of learning the mechanics of the game.

[lunchstolen]

I particularly liked that scout part. When I play scout, eye first just for runes.

[drasked]

- If you have a Scout on your team, and he hasn't spent any points in electric eye, feel free to insult his mother.


For great justice!

[Jeza]

Never chase beyond tower? NEVER CHASE? This is of doubtful veracity. Chase when you have a chance and you know you won't die. Killing an enemy is just as important as preserving your own life sometimes.

[G`Funk]

Get a Courier.
this

i ALWAYS have a chicken in my starting setup. even when mid i usually start with a chicken and let me bring a bottle after the first 4-5 creepkills (with a decent mid hero before the 2nd runes spawn)

for lanes its usually chicken, 1-2 tangos, a circlet (dunno hon name) and depending on the hero 1-2 gg branches or mana potions. thos build is great on evry hero no matter what, and your lane partner will be happy also.

just saves you so much time and exp its amazing.

[Boblah]

I'd buy one but i keep forgetting it around 10 mins in.

[dunehunter]

Yeah, especially in pub games where no one else gets one, courier = win. After you get used to the shortcuts, you can buy without having to take your eyes of the fight, meaning you lose no xp and hardly any gold, especially compared to running back and forth. Also good for buying stuff from the secret shop mid/endgame, so you don't have to leave during fights to go buy something or risk losing the gold for it.

[YukariKaito]

Some rules to add:

-F***ING PICK ASSISTS YOU STUPID SCRUBS

-Invisibility does not mean Invincibility, yes, you still can die if a wretched hag accidentally presses her ulti in your direction, or a ward is present.

-Predator, please don't forest if you're going to come back after 40 minutes with a Runed Axe. Let Tempest or Ophelia or Wildsoul forest instead of denying them the chance to.

-Always pull creeps when you can when your lane is pushing. And stack neutral creeps before pulling.

-Dark Lady, Valkyrie and Vindicator, PLEASE USE YOUR DAMN ULTIS.

-Plague Rider, your cursed shield is not as good as your extinguish in early game.

-Always try to go for combo heroes, like Tempest Plague Soulstealer Magmus Sand Wraith is also known as the Sudden Death Team. If you don't, try to have as many stuns as possible. Scout Moon Queen Night Hound Chronos Soulstealer is NOT a combo in a pub game.

-Predator DOES NOT counter Magmus. (You wont die, but the rest of your team do)

[inDe_eD]

5-8 are either flat-out wrong, or conditional at best.

[Integria]

-- Do not, under ANY circumstances, pick a supportive hero in a public game.

-- Should you find yourself with a supportive hero, who is melee (Accursed, Jereziah, etc), stack up on Runed Axes. This way, you won't hate yourself as much when you lose.

-- Don't speak Russian in Team-chat, unless you're on a team consisting entirely of Russian's. Seriously, don't. Silence, English or GTFO.

-- Expect the worst. If in duplicate mode for example, assume that your team will consist of four times Rampage. Additionally assume that they'll all go Codex -> Refresher -> Staff of The Master.

++ Always and ever carry a Teleport Stone.

[Albane]

Get a Courier.

Learn the hotkeys for the Courier.
"E" will bring him to you and give you your items.
"R" will return him to the base.

Buy health and mana pots/stones. Every time you return to your base and leave your lane empty, the enemy gets a free 400 gold from last hits.

[EGNesTea420]

- Get and use a courier.
Seriously, the number one mistake I see time and time again are people "brb I'm going to buy". They waste the time to run to the fountain (and possibly back, since they buy so much they have no gold for a homecoming stone) and then they wonder why they are 5 levels below everyone else late game.

Likewise I would say that if you're sort of low HP, and it is early game (and you ran out of early regen) just courier over yourself a healing pot. Seriously, 100g is much more worth it than the 135g for a homecoming + walking.


- always be doing something.
This is another one that I see people not doing all the damn time. This is also one of the hardest things to learn in HoN, I think, because while the concept is simple sometimes it's really easy to get mixed up. Like if you see them going for a push yet they don't and you just have a stand still at the tower. You need to learn when to just homecoming stone in (again "Time spent farming" > 135g stone) and when you need to be there immediately. But seriously, people do waste a lot of time in this game. The old saying really is True in HoN, "Time is money."


- Be conscious of early game lanes when picking heroes.
Another thing I see a lot. People pick heroes with no effort at all towards lanes. I'm not necessarily talking about the infamous "pick 5 carries" idea but just bad lanes in general. Things like not having a babysitter for the hard carry, putting the hard carry in the hard lane or having the only babysitter on the team solo mid (instead putting a semi-carry + carry together in a lane). Things like this can easily be solved if people take some time and think about what they are picking, before they pick it.


- Be aware of your heroes role!
This is another important one, I think. It's generic, yes, but I find it is some of this generic stuff that people have issues with. Point is unless you actually know what you're doing please know your heroes role. This goes beyond things such as getting items but also how you should react to lanes, last hitting, harass and kills. If you are a babysitter, and babysitting a carry (who can actually last hit) than please don't try and grab every single last hit. Grab those that are out of range, or those from a creep pull, but don't take away your carries farm so you can get your items. If you are playing a support hero try and let your carries get the kill(s). Yes, that means you two Witch slayer and Pyromancer, use that ult first instead of last. Your carries farm means a lot more than you getting your SoTM. Finally just for things such as who should get wards, who should be initiating, ect.


- Be ready to improvise.
In a PUB I think this is a tip that people need to know. Fact is, you need to know how to improvise. No matter how much you follow tips, you follow guides, you pay attention and do it all right... someone else will be there to **** up all your hard work. My point is there are times when, for example, your carry sucks ass in a pub. Perhaps it is a magebane who decided to rush his brutalizer or it is a chronos who 35 minutes in has ghost marchers and a ring. Some times you need to break rules and play unconventional specs, not to mention make unconventional choices, in order to win the game. If you're having decent farm on demented shaman while your puppet master fails to even grasp the very basics of HoN than feel free to grab a few more... carry-type items. As much as one hates to admit it in a pub almost every hero can excel with some sort of farm, and it may be the only way to actually save a match sometimes.



Those are probably the 5 best tips I could give people.