DotA Game Modes
In the game of DotA there are a variety of game modes which can be enabled by the host in the first few seconds of the game. Each of these game types presents a different way to play and all have their pros and cons. These game modes are with their respective advantages and disadvantages:
All Pick (-ap)
Allows you to pick heroes from any tavern regardless of their allegiance. This is the game type you will be looking to play constantly as a beginner and has no downside outside of the fact that there are very common hero choices so games may begin to get repetitive.
All Random (-ar)
You will be given a random hero from any tavern regardless of their allegiance With all random games you will see much more variety and interesting combos between heroes. The large downside for the majority of players is you won’t be able to use the same set of heroes over and over to really get down their abilities and play styles. I’d advise away from all random games until you understand the game more.
All Intelligence-Based (-ai)
All non-intelligence heroes are removed from the taverns. This leaves you with just intelligence heroes which make for some interesting match ups. This game type is a load of fun but can be quite imbalanced if a few specific heroes are taken by one team.
All Agility-Based (-aa)
All non-agility heroes are removed from the taverns. Fairly boring game type as it is a race to be the first that buys a power damage item. I’d advise against this game type.
All Strength-Based (-as)
All non-strength heroes are removed from the taverns. Games turn into a battle of the mass-health-with-blade mails. Another boring game type, I’d avoid this one as well.
Short Mode (-sm)
In Short Mode, players are given more gold and experience for each creep kill. On top of that, your towers are all much weaker so it is incredibly easy to push. Alright, everybody, let me get this out on the table. Short Mode is terrible. Avoid this game type at all costs! All Short Mode leads to are heroes that do not have the ability to make a large amount of cash income become killing machines very fast. This practically removes the early and mid game so many heroes become too powerful very fast. Please, do not play this game type as it will kill a large portion of your skill as well as a small kitten showing disapproval from the DotA Gods.
However, if you aren’t down for a long, serious game of DotA, Short Mode is the way to go. It’s a good way to quickly pass the time and you can pull off some really crazy things with the extra income and experience.
Death Match (-dm)
Players are given the chance to choose a new hero on death. This is most commonly played in conjunction with all random games which make it very interesting. Another game type to play once you have mastered the basics because of its variety of heroes used.
Item Drop (-id)
Upon death, the hero drops an item from a random slot in his or her inventory. Makes for interesting games and more cautious play styles. Only downside I see to this is the frustration of losing an expensive item and hero killers being able to buff themselves up very quickly with your items they steal.
Super Creeps (-sc)
Super Creep mode creates the game so that at random intervals of time, a Super Creep will spawn in a random lane for either the Sentinel or Scourge. The Super Creeps vary depending on the time of the game from a big fish to a Hyrda. Super Creep mode is not often used, as the creeps are extremely strong and can vastly swing the momentum of a game. It is also thought that the ‘random’ spawns are not that random, as the Sentinel is said to have more spawns early game, whiel Scourge is said to have more later on.
League Mode (-lm)
This is the equivalent of playing with no game modifiers on. League Mode will allow for a hero drafting method as opposed to the regular frenzy to pick your hero. Sentinel picks one, scourge picks two, sentinel picks two, scourge picks two, sentinel picks two, and scourge picks one. That’s how the hero selection is formatted and it allows for both teams to counter their opponents’ strategies. Don’t play League Mode unless, and this should be obvious, you are playing in a league.
No Power-ups (-np)
Shuts off the spawning of power-ups on the map. Alright if you want to play without the randomness of game breaking Runes and has no real downsides. For those of you unaware of what a Rune does, it grants one of 5 random powerups to boost your hero for battle. These runes include the following:
Double Damage - Double damage runes are recognized by their dark blue color. They will increase your attack damage by a large amount based off of a couple factors. The bonus damage recieved is your base damage plus the amount of points you have in your primary attribute. For instance, say a hero does 80 damage and has 55 strength. The bonus damage added from picking up a double damage rune would be 135 for a total of 215 plus any addtional damage you have from items.
Haste Rune - Haste runes are recognized by their red color. They will increase your move speed to the max allowed in DotA, 522. If you are affected by any ability that has a slow you will maintain the maximum move speed regardless.
Invisibility Rune - Invisibility runes are recognized by their purple color. Invisibility runes will turn you invisible to the enemy team for 60 seconds. They will still be able to see you with the use of sentry wards or any other form of invisiblity detection. When you attack or cast a spell the invisibility will be broken. Also, unlike wind walk abilities, invisibility runes will not remove your collision size, so you can be noticed if you block a units path.
Image Runes - Images runes are recognized by their orange color. When you pick up an image rune an image of yourself will spawn that deals 30% damage and recieves 200% damage from all damage and will be immediately destroyed if it is hexed. Images from these runes are most often used as a way to draw fire from enemy heroes or as a distraction while forming an ambush on the other team.
Regeneration Runes - Regen runes are recognized by their green color. Regeneration runes will increase your health and mana regeneration by a massive amount. Picking one up at any point in the game will bring you back to full health and mana in a matter of seconds. Being harmed by anything, physical or magic, will disable the regeneration effects of the rune.
Team Random (-tr)
In Team Random, players will be given a random hero from their respective allegiance This limits your choices but can also prevent some imbalances that arise from multi faction hero combos.
Team Pick
The game type by default. You are only allowed to pick heroes from your respective side of the taverns. This is a good game type to play except for the fact it limits peoples hero choices which isn’t always beneficial in learning the game.
Mode Random (-mr)
Will select a random main game type (ar, ap, tr, tp). Can be interesting to mess around with on occasion but has no effect outside of it adding some variety to games.
Other Commands
There are also many in game commands that give you little tidbits of information.
Match-Up (-ma)
This command shows what heroes the enemy team possesses, sometimes if the enemy choose their heroes quickly you can use this command to determine which hero to use to best counter them.
Move Speed (-ms)
This command gives you your hero’s movement speed. Starting move speed varies but the average is likely around 300 but can range from anywhere between 275 and 325. Move speed can be modified by the use of Boots of Speed and certain items like Yasha or the Endurance Aura of Necronomicon minions. The cap on movespeed is 522 and can only be achieve through the use of haste runes or some heroes abilities such as Lycanthrope in Wolf Form, Balnazzar at night and Bone Clinkz in wind walk.
Creep Stats (-cs)
This command gives you the number of creeps that you have killed and the number of allied creeps you have killed in order to deprive the enemy of experience. Great for keeping track of your farming progress but has been outdated due to the next command.
Creep Stats Board On (-csboardon)
The greatest thing to happen with DotA since… ever! This will cause a board to be displayed constantly updating your creep stats which allows for very easy tracking of how you are doing. Type -csboardoff to turn off the board.
Unstuck (-unstuck)
On occasion you will encounter situations where you can’t escape. Typing -unstuck will initiate an ability that takes 60 seconds to cast and will teleport you back to your respective fountain.
