Am I right or am I wrong?

[Bali1]

Having never played dota, I am not an extremely experienced player. I feel recently that I have somewhat grown into my own playstyle, and I'd like to gauge where I'm at. We all play by a set of our own rules, sometimes we adhere to them more rigorously than other. But I was thinking, what if my rules are just plain wrong?

Level 1, if I have a nuke, and meet someone in my lane, I will use it immediately against my opponents and auto attack them. Generally not going for a kill, just trying to harass and make them use any runes/items they might have. Better if they dont. I'm also playing a psychological game, trying to establish who is the "boss" of the lane. I know I will have regened any mana by levels 3-6 for further harassment. I think its a waste to not do an early harass at level 1. Right or wrong?

If my team is raxing, or if I am alone, I will almost always attack the barracks the majority creeps are hitting, because I feel its faster and more efficient to hit the building that it is taking the most damage per second. Even if it is the ranged rax. I will make exceptions if my teammates are focusing the barracks the creeps aren't hitting. Right or wrong?

I am usually the person who initiates group fights or ganks, even if my hero isn't the best initiator. Sometimes I feel like I have to manipulate my teammates into doing what I want, even if they disagree with the gank, because I feel it will be successful (this is in pubs, really). Right or wrong?

If I am to chase a weak hero with a high probability of my own death at the cost of his, 3 things: It cannot be late game, where a death can set the team back horribly. I should be at the same level or below the level of my target, so the gain is worth the potential loss. Or, excluding the above two - said player horrible wronged me and I want revenge. Right or wrong?

Anyway, thats all for now, will probably come up with more stuff later. Thanks to anyone who replies. :D

[ScottP]

Overall I'd say you're pretty right. You're right that nukes are great for harassing at level 1 at max mana but don't use it right off the bat. I like using it when a melee hero is going in for a last hit that for whatever reason i can't deny. Still, level 1 nukes suck and I don't normally use them more than once (unless it's spammable)
You're right about hitting the rax that your creeps are, as well. Stat wise, the ranged one has 10 less armor than the melee one, so if your creeps are attacking that (they generally do) by all means, ignore your teammates shouting "MELEE NOOB" if you know the enemy heroes are coming back.
Not sure what you mean by the third one, but don't go in first if your teammates are reluctant, generally they walk back and forth confusedly until you get killed and call you a noob afterwards.
This one is very situational. Is the hero going to hurt if he loses the gold? Are you absolutely sure you're going to kill him? Are you a crazy bastard? If so, go ahead.

[TerranEarth]

Uhh, watch some pro dota replays at dota.sgamers.com and see how they establish lane control/map control for point #1. Generally you want to use your spells wisely , for example you see an int hero getting attacked by creeps early cause he didnt back fast enough, STUN HIM even if it's level 1! The damage he takes from creeps + your attacks is substainal, and he'll probably die. Dont spam spells just for setting a 'mentality', spaming random spells at random times is noob. Use your spells wisely at any point of the game. Point 3, a good ganker knows when to wait and when to go to get the guaranteed kill, so initiating first w/o a stun w/ 4 guys lagging behind u only to scare the guy into running is a mistake. Wait and then go. Again see replays for better idea of how pros gank successfully. Point 4: You have to remember late game it's all about who puts more pressure on the other team successfully. And yes successfully is key. Dont die needlessly, if your death is worth something, u see a 1 for 4 trade ie your enigma going in first w/ blackhole, take it. Again watch good clan match replays who go into the late game. The more aggressive coordinated team usually comes out on top.

[Grinbomb]

1. I like to wait for an opportune moment to harass with spells. If I am a ranged hero I'll pick away at their HP with normal attacks, and try to coordinate spell usage with my lane partner.

2. This is the best way to do things, imo.

3. This is highly situational. If your team is lagging far behind you, initiating against a hero not interested in fighting is just going to cause him to flee. If your team is nearby, it can be worth attempting to stun/slow the hero to give your team time to arrive. You may also be able to bait the enemy into giving chase, and running right into your team.

In a team/group fight, I tend to let the initiator characters head in first. You never know what's going to happen, sometimes a team fight may not even break out, but if you attempt to initiate one and fail, it's now 4v5, and the enemy team will have the upper hand.

4. There are no set rules for how long and how hard to chase an enemy hero. Factors to consider: Is his team alive? If so, are they visible? Is he fleeing to wait out a cooldown like a stun, and with said cooldown, will he be able to kill you? Are you chasing him into his creep waves/towers?

You have to quickly gauge the situation and decide to chase or not. Every situation is different, but as a general rule of thumb, I don't chase too long or too hard. I'd rather lose a kill than give up a death.

[LegoPirate]

1. I like to wait for an opportune moment to harass with spells. If I am a ranged hero I'll pick away at their HP with normal attacks, and try to coordinate spell usage with my lane partner.

2. This is the best way to do things, imo.

3. This is highly situational. If your team is lagging far behind you, initiating against a hero not interested in fighting is just going to cause him to flee. If your team is nearby, it can be worth attempting to stun/slow the hero to give your team time to arrive. You may also be able to bait the enemy into giving chase, and running right into your team.

In a team/group fight, I tend to let the initiator characters head in first. You never know what's going to happen, sometimes a team fight may not even break out, but if you attempt to initiate one and fail, it's now 4v5, and the enemy team will have the upper hand.

4. There are no set rules for how long and how hard to chase an enemy hero. Factors to consider: Is his team alive? If so, are they visible? Is he fleeing to wait out a cooldown like a stun, and with said cooldown, will he be able to kill you? Are you chasing him into his creep waves/towers?

You have to quickly gauge the situation and decide to chase or not. Every situation is different, but as a general rule of thumb, I don't chase too long or too hard. I'd rather lose a kill than give up a death.

hes a noob, but hes right.

[Grinbomb]

hes a noob, but hes right.

Remember that time you were bad at Heroes of Newerth? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

[LegoPirate]

Remember that time you were bad at Heroes of Newerth? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

remember that time i carried you to victory and then banged your mom?

she definetly remembers.

[Jeza]

I usually laugh in the face of people who nuke at level 1, almost all heroes it does terrible damage and wastes lots of mana. A TB who rushes and attacks you with bolt at level 1 is almost certainly terrible.

[Grinbomb]

remember that time i carried you to victory and then banged your mom?

she definetly remembers.

Yeah I remember, that was a good round.

[Kitad1]

Agree on most things but I think its better not to die and let live than get both kills(unless of course, the other guy is an exponentially dangerous carry or something and you are support)

[Kitad1]

I usually laugh in the face of people who nuke at level 1, almost all heroes it does terrible damage and wastes lots of mana. A TB who rushes and attacks you with bolt at level 1 is almost certainly terrible.

you will get the mana back by the time the nukes start getting effective

of course you can say that you will also get the HP back but as the OP said, phsycological game

[evotech]

Dont use level 1 nukes, they are too bad for the cost

[Drasha]

i don't use my spells at level one while it establishes you as a threat they will play more carefully around you and it becomes much harder at higher levels when you have the spells to kill them to get them of. If they think you wont cast your spells your in much better shape since when you do you will have the element of surprise. Does not apply to all situations.

[Trazgo]

I usually laugh in the face of people who nuke at level 1, almost all heroes it does terrible damage and wastes lots of mana. A TB who rushes and attacks you with bolt at level 1 is almost certainly terrible.

But when you get disabled and nuked to death during a 3v1 rune gank at Level 1, it's different :p

[Bali1]

Thanks for the replies :o

[Bobnintendo]

1.Depends. If you are for example Hammerstorm, do not do this, your stun is an awesome escape mechanism if you get ganked early and your mana-regen sucks. if you are for example moon queen you can do this, she has an okay mana-reg and she doesn't need her spell desperately when ganked, altough I personally don't like to use my spells too early, I am more of a passive player, but most of the time when I am lvl 3 I start harassing. As said before, if he is actually for example a carry, harass him if your hero / spells are good for that as much as you can.

2. Depends again, actually you are right about this, but when you know that you have a lot of time to kill the raxes, pick the melee rax first.

3.Well. Your teammates are likely to not follow up, I don't actually suggest you to do this, but you can also make yourself look like a leader person, they will often listen to you this way.

4. This is highly situational, but most of the time I would say do not go for the kill. It is not worth it most of the time.

[Endorphins]

like what other people said you are mostly right. using a spell right away is not a bad thing, a lot of people do it, especially ones with smaller mana costs, so the passive regen is not being wasted, and it does help establish lane dominance. about initiating fights when you are not an initiator, that is probably not the best idea. in pubs i guess it can be alright, just because the ones who do have initiators probably wont actually start the fight. and for chasing heroes, i tend to play a little safer and not go for the kill if there is a high chance of me dying, unless they are really pissing me off.

but like everyone said, you are pretty much right.

[Testknight]

Using a spell at one isn't a bad thing guys. You can run your mana regeneration to make the most of your mana.

[akitoes]

Level 1, if I have a nuke, and meet someone in my lane, I will use it immediately against my opponents and auto attack them. Generally not going for a kill, just trying to harass and make them use any runes/items they might have. Better if they dont. I'm also playing a psychological game, trying to establish who is the "boss" of the lane. I know I will have regened any mana by levels 3-6 for further harassment. I think its a waste to not do an early harass at level 1. Right or wrong?
right

If my team is raxing, or if I am alone, I will almost always attack the barracks the majority creeps are hitting, because I feel its faster and more efficient to hit the building that it is taking the most damage per second. Even if it is the ranged rax. I will make exceptions if my teammates are focusing the barracks the creeps aren't hitting. Right or wrong?

I am usually the person who initiates group fights or ganks, even if my hero isn't the best initiator. Sometimes I feel like I have to manipulate my teammates into doing what I want, even if they disagree with the gank, because I feel it will be successful (this is in pubs, really). Right or wrong?

If I am to chase a weak hero with a high probability of my own death at the cost of his, 3 things: It cannot be late game, where a death can set the team back horribly. I should be at the same level or below the level of my target, so the gain is worth the potential loss. Or, excluding the above two - said player horrible wronged me and I want revenge. Right or wrong?

Anyway, thats all for now, will probably come up with more stuff later. Thanks to anyone who replies. :D
right
right

you can lead without initiating, initiating with non-initiators can get you killed

a kill is never worth a death
never

[Droggeltasse]

right

a kill is never worth a death
never

can you explain this? Just by the logic if iam not a carry and the enemy is why the kill will him hurt more.

And the other think is is the kill sure and is your death sure. In alot of cases were i rush in is the kill sure but my death is not 100% maybe 70% why should i not kill him.

As far as i can recall the number of sacrifices in this game is low compared to the use of them.

Just for example on a public game you are at there creep production and you can take out one barack at 80% chance at lvl 16 is it worth your death. I would say yes but just by playstile i would say 90% disagree.

[Thorbinator]

A barracks is worth a death, but trading 1/1 is to be avoided.

Not dying is always more important then getting a kill.

Part of this is the bonus gold/xp that does with a kill. If you dive into the enemy team, kill someone and die, you get the gold for killing him and the bonus gold/xp for killing him.

The person who kills you gets the kill gold, but the rest of their team(!) gets the bonus xp/gold. At mid levels, thats hundreds of gold and thousands of xp you simply gave the other team. Don't do it.

[Longhorn]

I have tried both methods, and I would recommend the runed axe + flayer. Once you get runed axe, you can farm flayer easily and it really does destroy bunched up opponents.

[xahxah]

I use MQ's nuke to last hit with at level 1. Kthx.

[laycast]

remember that time i carried you to victory and then banged your mom?

she definetly remembers.

remember that one time you banged his mom and I was in the corner masturbating?

do you?