Tips for new players! (With hero guide links)

[Fielding]

This is a thread for some of the vets out there to give tips to the new players. HoN can be incredibly frustrating when you're new, and 99% of the problem is misinformation and not understanding exactly how to play.

So, I'll start off:
1. To learn more about the game and the items, go to "create game," check "private" and start that way. This lets you play in a game without any pressure from other players to learn a bit about how the game works.
2. Play cautiously when starting out! When you die, not only do you lose gold, but you also give it to the enemy. Being too aggressive is a sure way to set yourself back.


I'll also be linking hero guides in here (though we may potentially put up a forum designated for such things). If you write up a hero guide, put it in a new thread and PM it to me. If it's up to snuff, I'll link it in here.

Hero Guides:

Devourer:
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=111

Jereziah:
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=99

Moon Queen:
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=96

Night Hound:
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=105

Wildsoul:
http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?p=840&posted=1#post840

[LodeRunner]

I'll write up some more stuff later and add it to this post as needed, but some basic things to remember:

-Survival in early game is key. Don't worry about trying to kill the enemy heroes until oh, level 9 or so. Don't die.

-Stay in the general vicinity of the creeps that are fighting. If you're out of range you get no experience and you're basically a dead weight.

-There is no need to actually engage the creeps early on. Let them fight it out. Later, when you're more comfortable with things you can learn about getting the last hit in and denials. For now, SURVIVE. If you're a melee hero stand behind the creep wave and press H for Hold position.

-Pick up items that can heal you or have bonus stamina early on. There is a phenomenal healer item at the secret shop for 875 gold that gives 5 hp/sec. You can get this pretty much right off the start, especially if you saved gold by randoming your hero.

-Get some speed boots. They don't stack. Upgrade them later. Base move speed sucks.

-Pick up items that make sense with your hero's primary attribute. Strength heroes should get items that increase strength. Agility heroes get agility items. Int heroes get items that increase int. It sounds logical but a lot of people overlook this.

-Hold down Alt. A lot. Enemy health bars are very revealing, and the fact that this game shows enemy mana bars is huge.

-Communicate with your teammates. This is a team game. Ping the minimap for areas of interest. CALL OUT when the enemy hero that was in your lane suddenly goes missing. Pay attention to that sort of thing. If you're in the middle and you see the enemy hero start plodding off to the top lane, let your teammate know. The accepted "dotaspeak" as it were for this case would be a minimap ping of the last known location of the enemy hero and something like, "mid mia heading top"

[Masae]

Well this explains why my team was getting pissed at me. I have the typical s2 "Be suicidal" mentality going on. :p I guess I have to learn how to run and hide more.

[HatTruck]

Marchers (boots of speed) are a great item, but you don't need them to start with. I used to think if I could run faster, I could kill more heroes and run back to the base to heal faster.

You don't want to be running back to the base, you want to stay in your lane and get experience and gold. a +hit point item or +regeneration item lets you stay in the lane longer, and lets you decide when you leave, don't let the enemy choose for you.

When I see an enemy doesn't have regen, I try to harass them, to either lower them enough to kill them before they can react, or to make them leave the lane, thus losing precious experience and gold.

Also, do not let the creeps attack you, let your allied creeps take the hits, and swoop in for the killing blow, this is what gives you gold. I've seen lots of new players sit there, exchanging blows with a creep, losing a third of even a half of there health to just killing a normal creep. It's not worth it! Later in the game when you have higher regen, life leeching items or abilities, by all means you can take on as many creeps as you like.

The main thing you should focus on is staying alive.

[exezic]

Play a new hero every game. It only takes one game to learn what a hero can and can't do. By learning all heroes, you will have a better grasp of what goes on in fights.

Given how this game is essentially Dota on steroids -- the same tactics apply. Dota is broken up into 50% skill, 25% hero knowledge, 15% build knowledge, and 10% item knowledge in my opinion.

Half the battle is learning all the heroes and their abilities, what all the items are and their cost, and what combinations of items go best with what heroes depending on the heroes you are facing off against. All of this needs to be memorized to be a good Dota player.

The other half is just putting it all into motion via tactics. How to counter other heroes with yours, your positioning, how you work with others, how you use your terrain and line of sight to your advantage, your timing, griefing your opponent and denying him kills (attrition), etc...

Once you memorize the ingredients of the game and play over time, you will be an expert before you know it. So don't sweat the small stuff and concentrate on learning from your experiences.

[Fallout]

Damnit, you guys beat me to it. I was writing up this big long newbie tip guide, but didn't want to post it until I was completely done. But I guess I'll post what I have.



What to do with your starting gold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One of the most important first purchases is Health Regen. You need some way to heal yourself out in the lane, because the longer you can stay in a lane, the more xp you get. The 90 gold Runes of the Blight are amazing for this.


Creeps and You
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The computer controlled armies of the Legion and Hellbourn are what we call 'creeps.' Whatever you do, don't try to 'tank' them early game. They may not do a lot of damage, but every hit from them you get, thats that much hp less your enemy has to do to kill you. So when it looks like your wave of friendly creeps is about to die, its time for you to back up and wait for the next wave.

Creep AI: Something to note of creeps; if you command attack an enemy hero next to his friendly creeps, the creeps will in turn attack you. This only happens with command attacks like right clicking on them, or pressing A then clicking on the hero. This does not happen when you use a spell.

Getting Gold!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone in the game gains a small amount of gold per second. This amount is nearly negligible, and should not be relied on for getting items.
Killing creeps and heroes is the best way to get gold. A well known tactic amongst Dota vets, is the 'Last Hit.' All damage done to a creep means nothing; the 'Last Hit' is all that matters. Whoever gets the last hit, gets the gold. So try to time your swings, or better yet, try not to attack at all until the creep is about to die.

Another way to get gold is by killing the Neutrals. In the heavily wooded areas of both the Legion and Helbourn sides are Neutral creeps. These creeps just sit there and wait for people to come kill them. Neutral farming is good if your hero is at a disadvantage and you need to stay out of your enemies' scopes.

[Hucklecat]

Building Your Hero:
When you are trying to figure out what items to get your hero you must think about it in several ways.
1) What main attribute is my hero?
If you are a strength hero, there really is no need to buy agility. If you are an agility hero there really is no need to buy int. There are few exceptions to these rules but for the most part stick to it. To tell what main attribute your hero is scroll over the little icon near your exp bar. If you are agility it would be a green circle with a box inside. Another way to see what main attribute you have is by looking at the bottom left corner and the number that appears in gold is your main attribute.

2) Does my hero have low hitpoints and low mana?
If this is the case you might want to lean towards getting early strength items (Fortified Bracelet) or intelligence items (talisman of exile). Strength increases your hitpoints, every point of str will give you +19hp and intelligence increases your mana, every point of int gives you 13 points of mana. Remember do not waste all your gold on increasing your hitpoints and mana, a form of regeneration is a must.

3) How to decide what type of regeneration I will need.
First let me list the regeneration items.
Lifetube: 5hp/sec 875 gold
Manatube: 100% mana regeneration 875 gold
Trinket of Restoration: 2hp/sec 375gold
Scarab: 50% mana regeneration 350gold
Now we have consumable items.
Mana Potion: restores 100 mana over 10 seconds 50gold
Health Potion: Restores 400 hp over 10 seconds 100gold
Runes of Blight(x3): Restores 115hp over 16 seconds 90gold
Bottle: Restores 135hp and 70 mana 600gold (Refillable for free by walking into your fountain or using it to pick up a rune that spawn in the river every 2 minutes.)

You are going to want to look at your hero skills and see what type of hero you are. If you are a hero that casts a lot of spells, than you might want to get a Ring of the Teacher which is a Scarab + Guardian Ring, this item gives your hero an aura that restores mana per second to you and your allies and gives a plus armor bonus and a passive +6 damage. It is considered one of the best items in the game just because it is so cheap and it gives your hero such a great buff. With the Ring of the Teacher you are also going to want something that restores HP, a good choice would be either a Health Potion or Runes of Blight.

If you are a hero that casts a lot of spells and you have to go middle, you might want to consider getting a Bottle. A bottle is probably the best early game item for regeneration for a hero in the middle lane because every 2 minutes you can check the river for a Rune, if your bottle is empty, left click the bottle and press your cursor on the Rune. This will bottle the Rune and save it for 2 minutes, and also completely refill your bottle.

If you are a melee hero that depends mostly on melee attacks and passive spells, you do not need mana regen, instead get a Trinket of Restoration, this item later down the road can be turned into an Abyssal Skull(Ring of the Teacher is also used to make Abyssal Skull), which is great for melee heroes mid-late game. If you want more regeneration, you could save your starting gold for a Lifetube(This item if found in the Secret Shops, which are located near the center for each side and located on the side lanes). This can be turned into many different items, too many to name.

Remember, when using Mana Potions, Health Potions and Bottles, find a safe spot and do not get hit by an attack because the effect will stop. However this does not apply to Runes of Blight, which is a clear advantage over Health Potions, but you get less bang for your buck.

4) Does my hero have an Orb Effect? (Morph Attack)
This is very important, because not all Orb Effects stack, and for the most part, they don’t. So if you are a hero that has an orb effect, ie Arachnid’s Web Shot, you might want to avoid the Morph Attack recipes and find items that, either, increase your damage and have procs, such as Riftshards, which gives a critical strike, or a savage mace, which gives a chance to do a bonus 100 damage. Or find items that increase your attack speed, such as Wingbow, Slash, and Warpcleft.

5) Am I support ,Carry (combat), or Tank hero?
A support hero is a hero that is defensive, can stun, snare, heal, etc. Support Heroes basically are more team oriented, when Carry heroes are the opposite, they gank and tear through the other team. What makes a hero a tank is very simple, if he is a strength hero, high HP and strength gain, and passive abilities that further increase the hero’s survivability, then he is a tank.

A good example for a support hero is the Pollywog Priest; He has a hex ability and an ability that shackles an opponent. Good items for this hero are, Stormspirit and Totem of Kuldra. Stormspirit gives you a cyclone (a tornado that blows an opponent in the air, making invulnerable and disabled for 3seconds while in the air) which is another disable for your team and Totem of Kuldra, which polymorphs an opponent, which gives you another Hex ability.

Another support hero is Nymphora, a faerie hero that can port other heroes out of bad situations, an area of effect heal, and a spell that decreases a single spells mana cost to 0. Good items to get on her are Ring of Sorcery, which replenishes you and your allies’ mana in an AoE. Another good item to get is Astrolabe, which heals you and your teammates in an AoE. You can also get similar items that I mentioned with Pollywog Priest.

For a Carry, a hero that relies heavily on combat items, You want a mix of items, also you need to take into consideration point four, that I mentioned, which is, does my hero have an orb effect? A good example if Magebane, he has a passive orb effect that destroys an enemies mana on hit, you do not get orb effects on this hero, instead you might want to get an Abyssal Skull, which adds a life leech to your attacks, which stacks with your orb. You are going to want attack speed items, such as Slash, Warpcleft, and Wingbow. Wingbow is very important on agility heroes because not only does it increase your attack speed, but it increases your damage, and gives your hero evasion. Another example for a carry hero is Predator, but since he does not have an Orb Effect, you can get one!

Now for tanks, good examples of tank heroes are The Legionnaire and Keeper of the Forest. These heroes rely heavily on staying alive and in the fight. You are going to want items such as Behemoth’s Heart, which increases your str and hp regen tremendously. Another good item is Helm of the Black Legion, which increases your HP, Regen, and gives you a passive chance of deflecting damage.

[Hucklecat]

6) What type of Boots should my hero get?
This is a tricky one, especially for people who do not know the heroes well.
Let me first start out by naming the different boots.
Enhanced Marchers: Gives plus 70 movement speed, 16 damage and 7 armor. Also gives an activation of a spell which for 5 seconds gives a 10% bonus to movement and no collision (allows you to walk through units)
Steamboots : 65 Movement speed, 30 attack speed, and a toggle of +10 str/agi/int
Post Haste: 90 Movement speed and an activation spell that lets you teleport to a friendly unit (not hero) or structure.
You will need to buy boots eventually, but it’s hard to decide what type of boots to get because they are all amazing. To decide you are going to need to examine your hero, does he have an attack that procs? If he does then maybe Steamboots would be the best, since they give 30 increased attack speed and with the +10 agility, that’s another 10 increase attack speed. If your hero needs to chase down other heroes than maybe Enhanced Marchers will be the best choice since it allows you to walk through units and gives a lot of increased movement speed. If you are a hero that can really control a lane, then maybe Post Haste would be the best choice for you, since these boots give a teleport, you can port from lane to lane, farming the creeps for gold to get better items and also keeping that lane pushed.


The best part about Heroes of Newerth or these DotA type games is that it allows you to build your hero anyway you see fit. Just because there are certain items that are recommended for your hero does not mean you cannot create your own build for your hero. If you are an intelligence hero with lots of damage spells, you do not have to go down a path of support, you can go offensive, maybe get a codex? A codex gives you an activation spell that is another nuke for your hero. Remember nothing is set in stone, probably some of the most fun I have ever had in DotA was trying out new builds. These six points are just a guideline for starting out. Have fun :D

[Helter]

Post Haste is rapidly becoming my favorite set of boots. The teleport is just so handy in so many ways. Need to get out of a bad situation? Port back to your pool. Someone needs help on the opposite side of the map? Port right to him (or to the next wave of friendly creeps coming up behind him), help out, and then port back.

Plus, 90 movement speed is nothing to sneeze at. That said, the increased stats on the others are a great help as well, and what you find most useful all depends on the hero and your playstyle.

[Mascher]

Thx for documentation :)
I play in private game for learning skills and artefacts...
You plane translate game client in other lang? Russian? :)

[Helter]

Multi-language support is a planned feature (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=36).

[OpMindcrime]

-Hold down Alt. A lot. Enemy health bars are very revealing, and the fact that this game shows enemy mana bars is huge.



Thought this might be an INVALUABLE bit of information
The Action AltInfo console command works in HoN as well. ;)

[LodeRunner]

Thought this might be an INVALUABLE bit of information
The Action AltInfo console command works in HoN as well. ;)
I don't know what this means. Also I'm redacting my previous statement about holding down alt. The functionality to have health/mana bars permanently displayed has since been added. By default the key is the quote key ( ' ).

[RedStone]

Pro advice from a noob. Bind H to your spacebar. Makes micro management a lot easier. Your left hand will make way shorter distances. :D

[Hucklecat]

Pro advice from a noob. Bind H to your spacebar. Makes micro management a lot easier. Your left hand will make way shorter distances. :D

I'm a musician so I have these slithery fingers that can stretch, :P but I totally dig the idea.

[Straith]

Pro advice from a noob. Bind H to your spacebar. Makes micro management a lot easier. Your left hand will make way shorter distances. :D

Good suggestion, my hands been cramping up trying to hold it in position to push all the buttons I need to in a timely fashion

[Sweetz]

i dont like the coward style battle but its still a pretty fun game

[JumJum]

Pyromancers ultimate + the codex book is great. I've one(two) shotted so many people with that early combo. :)

[shi]

some useful UI tips:

MIDDLE MOUSE BUTTON PANS THE VIEW

rebind the SPACE key to recenter on hero or hold attack

rebinding 'x' to hold attack is will make you use it more

binding your hero to the ctrl+1 group is very helpful to keep you on fast select.

[Furier]

F1 can also be used to select ur hero.
And also c is bound to center the view on your hero by default, dont know if ur hero needs to be selected for it to work but have never used it. I dobbel click either F1 or my grouping of my hero bount to 1 to get to my hero.

In wc3 i know the space bar gives you the view of the last known location on the map where the game gave you an alert, like your allies are under attack, hit space and you will look right at the once under attack. Tho i dont know if its like that here, so if not it can yes be helpfull to rebind spacebar to hold pos.