Difference between an average player and a good player?

[Redundant]

Alright so I started playing a while ago, and was pretty bad. Played casual DoTA before so I knew what most of the heroes and the items. Started playing HoN but played pretty bad mostly because I didn't know what heroes were who and spells and visuals kind of messed me up.

Now that I've started to play better, I want to know what I should do to improve. I've played mostly EM games because I was used to it when I played DoTA. Have been trying to play normal mode games whenever I can (friends like easy mode).

My stats seem to be fine but that could be inflated from playing a ton of EM games. Now whenever I play in higher up normal games, I usually do perfectly fine or terrible. I usually play melee heroes but I always seem to have a tough time last hitting and denying against a harassing ranged hero.

If a few people could check a few of my games and see if there's any real big flaws that would help improve my game, it'd be appreciated.

[phate]

No one can check out your games because the replay system is not in the game yet.

Also you should never play an EM game because it is not what the game is balanced around. This is why all of the tournaments are normal mode and all of the the good players play normal.

[VyyyE]

What you could do, while waiting for replays, it to watch casts or FPVoDs of higher level games. You'll definitely learn a lot. Angel/Glorify has quite a few FPVoDs, some with ventrilo recordings slapped over it, and there's obviously plenty of casts just about everywhere.

Not to mention live streams, check the Fan Media section. Alternatively, record yourself playing with fraps or whatever.

[sukoru]

the difference is about 2 hours a day

[Mellow]

Homecoming stones, courier and wards are the differences

Especially homecoming stones

[Zeons]

Also positioning, timing and awereness.

[china]

There's just a lot that goes into playing at a higher level.

You can usually tell if a player is good by merely how they control their hero, CS, and anim cancelling/harrass. I can typically tell in the first minute of the laning phase whether me and my lane partner (If I'm in a sidelane) could afford to play aggressively (depending on lane makeup) or if we're better off waiting for a mistake to be made or for a gank to come in.

[AequitaZ]

You sound like a god damn noob to me! "What can I improve?"

EVERYTHING MAN. EVERYTHING!
Get wards, get lasthits skillz. Try 2 deny EVERY creep, roam a lot, lead your team to the win and always get the best item build!

[HatDucks]

one word...

judgement

[MrShine]

There are a lot of things that can help you transcend the average -> good player barrier.

Playing strictly normal mode would be a good start.

Focus less on 'str, agi, int' and focus more on hero roles (carry, support, gank, initiator, nuker, etc)

Make a habit of ALWAYS having a homecoming stone on hand, and making good use of them by supporting lanes or setting up ganks. This is HUGE, and the 135g is well worth the cost. For escape the 135g is well worth the cost of escape and denial of xp/gold to an enemy, and getting back into lanes 135g (about 3 creep kills) is well worth the increased xp gain, not to mention the potential hero gank it can bring with it. Using these will ramp up your play.

Of course practicing laning techniques (last hitting, denies, creep pulling) will give you a monetary and xp advantage over other heroes.

Investing in wards/a chicken (and actually using it!) if you are the support hero will make up for their cost with the gank detection/xp gain/gold gain they bring.

These are obvious things, but these are some things I rarely ever see in lower skilled games and see frequently in higher skilled games. Doing all these things won't mean you'll win, but doing these things effectively will be a good step forward.

A lot of the other stuff can't really be taught, it will come from learning good hero lanes and maintaining awareness in hectic team fights. Practice basically.

[Rubenros]

all of the the good players play normal.

I'm a good player, I play both modes.

Saying "good players play normal mode" doesn't mean that all normal mode players are good.

[VeNuM]

I would say the difference between an average player and a good player. Is quite simple really.

Good players(I assume we are talking the high tier of medium/top tier players) are that they can play all heroes well to a high standard.

They know the what I would consider the basics for good play.
-Carrying a TP scroll
-Getting farm that they need to what ever the hero (without stealing someone elses)
-Warding (and knowing all ward positions)
-Rune Control (depending on hero)
-Knowing how to survive team fights if you are a squish and still adding to the fight

Theres a lot of stuff really but these are a few key things.

[bkid]

Basically carry a tp and counter gank when their team ganks your teammate and you'll atleast be better than 75% of the pubs. NO EM ofc

[`Cherry`]

listen to bkid =O

[FuzzyWuzzy]

Alright so I started playing a while ago, and was pretty bad. Played casual DoTA before so I knew what most of the heroes and the items. Started playing HoN but played pretty bad mostly because I didn't know what heroes were who and spells and visuals kind of messed me up.

Now that I've started to play better, I want to know what I should do to improve. I've played mostly EM games because I was used to it when I played DoTA. Have been trying to play normal mode games whenever I can (friends like easy mode).

My stats seem to be fine but that could be inflated from playing a ton of EM games. Now whenever I play in higher up normal games, I usually do perfectly fine or terrible. I usually play melee heroes but I always seem to have a tough time last hitting and denying against a harassing ranged hero.

If a few people could check a few of my games and see if there's any real big flaws that would help improve my game, it'd be appreciated.

Map awareness. And map awareness.

An average player can learn to micro and to chain spells, but he really can't predict enemy movement without wards.

[HatTrick]

Warding (not just rune spawns), counter warding, carrying teleport stones, creep aggro, creep stacking, creep pulling, last Hitting/denying, map awareness, using fog to your advantage, item builds, situational items, item hot keys, orb walking, playing carry, babysitting, support, ganking, initiating, maintaining good farm and always using your time efficiently.

Develop game psychology, outsmart their players. Good intuition and timing, intimidation, ALWAYS knowing your hero's strengths and weaknesses. Filling roles in teams even if you don't want to. Don't whine, don't rage, never get mad, never concede

[esoteric]

one word...

judgement

This.

Some games are tests of how well you can read your opponent. Some games are tests of your valuation. HoN incorporates both of those things, but mostly it is a test of your judgment.

[kuroYMT]

Here are some differences:


Picking heroes based on the other team's hero composition and your own team's heroes.

Knowing the importance of map control and wards and rune whoring.

Constantly checking the minimap for any enemy movement or gank awareness.

The ability to farm well and gank well at the same time.

The logistics of gold priority on carry, support heroes.

[Ernie888]

i was in same situation as yourself, but started playing exclusively non EM after the PSR reset... i have found the PSR grind a lot harder now more how should i say it, K : D idiots are playing non EM... but its a totally different game. Characters that shine at early - mid ganking are much better and have a longer domination period, wheras in EM your late game heroes shine much earlier and have an easier time farming up their items.

Denying becomes a lot more important as the XP is reduced per mob and can tip the entire balance of a game.

The hardest adjustment is finding new friends to play with. Like you all my friend play EM and are now 1650+ but still play EM. I have started to add randoms ppl that team play well and discuss hero picks before hand. That way im less likely to be in a team of 4 agi carries :/

[ShadowExile]

HoN is completely focused on team ability. It's not like in other games where one person can be so skilled as to headshot every single person on the enemy team even if his whole team is dead.

So therefore, you need to understand the role you play. I'm playing normal, and I'm a support. So what should I be doing?

1) Not changing your target to steal the kill from a carry hero, they'll be saving your ass later.
2) Supporting and babysitting the carry hero early game. Keep them alive. Stun the people trying to kill them. If you have hp and mana pots you don't need, but need them to either have skills or hp, use it on them.
3) Destroying their archers and their sieges fast, because they do large damage and won't be attacked by their own creeps.
4) Focusing on the siege engine if the creeps are at your tower, these are the things that WILL kill your tower.

Carry should:
1) Not auto attack. EVER.
2) Move around crazily and be unpredictable
3) Last hit and deny EXTREMELY well.

etc etc.

Each hero has a unique role to play and that will decide the ENTIRE outcome. So you have to play for the team. If someone is in trouble, call for tp's and expect everyone to instantly drop the 3 last hits they were about to get and come top. They'll either go back or you'll have a massive team fight you will usually win, depending on what heroes you have that can disable them or slow them before they leave.

Always carry a tp. People have said this. Couriers and Wards are EXTREMELY useful and you quickly make up your gold and have the ability to stay in your lane. If you have 3000 gold and know you can buy something, you need to realise that if you die, it's 30x(level) gold loss. So if you're level 10, that's 300 gold loss, and suddenly you have to make that back up again. However, if you only have 50 gold and die, you will only lose 50 gold if the items are in your stash, and you'll still have the stashed item.

Stack creeps. If you're a hero who gets a whispering helm, use it to control a creep, set it to a control group (use Control + 1 on you, Control + 2 on it, and use 1 and 2 buttons to differentiate between you two), and pull the ancient creeps throughout the game. Ward the river constantly so they cannot discover it. It's a double-edged sword, but if a hero such as Madman or Maliken farms this late game, it's incredible gold and experience.

You need to understand every hero and you always need to watch the map. Don't wait for your allies to call mia. If everyone in top lane and middle lane is gone, you know they're coming for you if you're in bot. Same vice versa. If someone is missing from any lane, you should ALWAYS see 2 enemies in other lanes or 1 in middle, and if you don't, keep watching until they return, and until they do, be extremely cautious. Don't recklessly rush in. Make sure to check behind trees and stuff so they can't surprise you. Stay back and just deny and attack creeps, but don't tower dive if their entire team is missing.

Instinct is something you need to develop as you play. Great players have a great instinct that just lets them dominate. If your middle player is running upstream, and their middle player is missing, and you've noticed your middle player going low on health but commenting in chat about his harassing of enemy mid solo, then run down river. Chances are he's either pursuing him to the rune of the mid solo is trying to find a regen rune desperately. With good placement of abilities, as well as thought and observance of the mini-map (the best tool in HoN, and it costs no gold!?), you will definitely become a good player.

Don't expect to do it over night. It won't happen. But just try and learn every hero and it will happen eventually.

[SSformon]

Being good at controlling hero (+monkey), be aware of whats going on around you and knowing how to act according to it.

[KARTlK]

I'm a good player, I play both modes.

Saying "good players play normal mode" doesn't mean that all normal mode players are good.

Lol he thinks he's good.

[HONYoda]

The difference between a good player and a bad player depends quite a bit on the hero they pick and what heroes the other team picks.

[Zentry]

Good players help their team co-ordinate and cooperate. Bad players talk smack to their own team members, and tell their team to do whatever it is they think works.
Good players give advice to bad players on their team. Bad players tell other team members what to do.
Good players try to make up for and anticipate errors by their team. Bad players ignore their teams errors and blames their team when those errors finally affect them.
Good players wait to see what heroes their team picks, and asks players that haven't selected a hero what hero they are going to play. Bad players immediately pick scout. If they are too slow to pick scout, they pick night hound. If they are too slow to pick night hound, they pick puppet master.

[KingMoscow]

Good players wait to see what heroes their team picks, and asks players that haven't selected a hero what hero they are going to play. Bad players immediately pick scout. If they are too slow to pick scout, they pick night hound. If they are too slow to pick night hound, they pick puppet master.

Sigged.

[akitoes]

Good players help their team co-ordinate and cooperate. Bad players talk smack to their own team members, and tell their team to do whatever it is they think works.
Good players give advice to bad players on their team. Bad players tell other team members what to do.
Good players try to make up for and anticipate errors by their team. Bad players ignore their teams errors and blames their team when those errors finally affect them.
Good players wait to see what heroes their team picks, and asks players that haven't selected a hero what hero they are going to play. Bad players immediately pick scout. If they are too slow to pick scout, they pick night hound. If they are too slow to pick night hound, they pick puppet master.

What a beautiful speech !:)
So would you think of yourself as a bad player or a good player ?

___

Anyway I think the tip on tp counterganking is of value there.

[fillipeano]

Like said before...
Judgment and awareness.