Dota 2 has features that show just how far it has come in terms of being a standalone multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game. From being a mod of a Warcraft map, Dota 2 has made significant changes to the game’s design, and that includes the map.
The Dota 2 map served as the inspiration for other MOBA games like League of Legends and Honor of Kings. But what exactly is this map made of? Here’s a breakdown of what you will see in Dota 2’s battlefield:
Factions
Before you head to a Bitcoin casino and bet on Dota 2, there are some basics about the game’s map you have to know. There are two factions that battle in Dota 2: the Radiant and the Dire. The default layout of the map puts the Radiant faction on the lower left half and the Dire on the upper right half. If you are assigned to the Dire faction, the positioning of the map is reversed.
In the Dota 2 lore, Radiant and Dire are the so-called Nemesis Stones, magical items that contain the opposing forces of benevolence and corruption. The Radiant stone was mainly used to craft weapons while the Dire stone only spreads evil forces. However, the item Demon Edge is apparently made of Dire stone.
Lanes
There are three main paths that connect the Radiant and Dire bases together: the top lane, middle lane, and bottom lane. These paths have towers that help defend each side from being infiltrated by the other. When heroes are focused on clearing the creep waves on the lane, it is called the laning phase. It usually happens in the early part of the game.
It is often suggested that new players use heroes that specialise in the bottom lane because it is considered the safest in the map. Creeps for both factions meet each other close to the towers, so heroes will be reluctant to engage each other during the laning phase. Most of the time, ranged attackers are in the bottom lane, staying as close to the tower as possible.
River
The river is what divides the map into the Radiant half and the Dire half. The river intersects the middle lane and ends in the corners of the top and bottom lanes. The river is surrounded by high ground, a terrain which blocks vision for both sides.
There are abilities and items which take advantage of the river. Slardar’s Guardian Sprint grants him additional movement speed while on the water. Ocean Heart is an item that can regenerate HP when the user is on the river. The puddle of water that Slardar creates while using Slithereen Crush and equipped with Aghanim’s Scepter is also considered a river.
Runes
Runes are special boosters that spawn in various locations of the map. There are two main types of runes: bounty runes which give additional gold and power-up runes which grant special bonuses. Bounty runes spawn in three-minute intervals while power-up runes appear in two-minute intervals.
Here are the the different power-up runes in the game:
- Water Rune: Appears during the second and fourth minute of the game at two points in the river. Grants 40 HP and 80 mana.
- Arcane Rune: Grants 30% cooldown reduction and 30% mana loss reduction. Lasts 50 seconds.
- Double Damage Rune: Boosts attack damage by 100% and lasts for 45 seconds.
- Haste Rune: Grants a 550 movement speed bonus and lasts for 22 seconds.
- Illusion Rune: Creates two illusions of the hero who picks it up. The illusions deal 35% damage. They take 200% damage when the hero is melee type or 300% when the hero is ranged and lasts for 75 seconds.
- Regeneration Rune: Grants a 6% HP and mana regeneration and lasts for 30 seconds unless the user takes damage from an enemy hero.
Roshan
Roshan is the strongest jungle monster in Dota 2. He is found on the western part of the river and has 6000 HP. He doesn’t use mana for his attacks and it usually takes more than one hero to kill it. When he is killed, all members of the team gain 400 EXP and up to 425 gold, depending on who dealt the killing blow. Five different items are also dropped by Roshan upon dying:
- Aegis of the Immortal: Instantly resurrects the user upon dying but expires after five minutes.
- Cheese: Restores 2500 HP and 1500 mana. Can be dropped or shared but must only be used on the hero who picked it up.
- Aghanim’s Shard – Roshan: Upgrades one of the holder’s abilities and adds a new ability.
- Aghanim’s Blessing – Roshan: Upgrades the ultimate ability of all heroes. Can also upgrade other abilities.
- Refresher Shard: Instantly resets the cooldown timers of all items and abilities of the holder.
Roshan spawns between eight to eleven minutes after being killed. He only drops the Aegis of the Immortal after his first death. The number of items he drops increases after succeeding deaths. Items can be picked up by any hero, even those from the team that didn’t kill Roshan.
Jungle
The jungle is the forested area between the lanes. Neutral creeps live in the jungle and can be killed for additional gold and EXP. The practice of killing neutral creeps in the jungle is known as jungling.
Structures
There are various buildings in the Dota 2 map that heroes can destroy to gain gold and EXP. Heroes can also defend their own structures from enemy attacks to prevent them from reaching the base. Here are the structures you will see around the map:
- Ancient: The main structure of a faction. The team that first destroys the opposing Ancient wins the game.
- Barracks: Sets of two structures placed behind towers on each lane. One barrack is for melee creeps and the other is for ranged creeps. If a barracks is destroyed, the opposing faction’s creeps will grow stronger.
- Effigies: Seven structures that reduce damage taken by towers. Also regenerates tower HP when there are no enemy creeps nearby.
- Outposts: Indestructible structures in the primary jungle that can be conquered by the opposing team for additional EXP. Also grants vision to the team they belong to.
- Towers: The main defence structures of the faction. Deals damage to one creep or hero caught within range. Can detect and shoot at invisible enemies.
Shops are special structures that cannot be destroyed by heroes. Each faction has two shops: the Base Shop and the Secret Shop. The Base Shop sells all basic items and recipes while the Secret Shop sells costlier items and is located near the short lane of each faction.
Now that you know what the Dota 2 map looks like, you are one step closer to selecting the right team to spend some casino cryptocurrency on Gamdom. If you are interested in playing the game, you can also use this information to orient yourself on some important objectives.