Guide to Mechanics Self Help

Guide to Mechanics Self Help

Posted on Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:50 am

This guide is still under construction.

What are DotA mechanics?
Mechanics are generally the finer points of gameplay, and how the game works. Questions about mechanics can range from "Does Lifesteal stack with Skadi?" to "What can I purge with my Diffusal?", or even "Why can't my team stack all these slows and bring this guy's MS down to 20?"

I'm sure that people (definately me) have had mechanics questions that we did not know the answer to. Some of us ask a lot of basic questions, of which the people who know mechanics get tired of answering. So… I write this guide to hopefully reduce the number of mechanics questions that can be easily solved by going to one or more of the following links, as well as reducing the amount of time Mods have to spend, closing threads that ask whether something stacks with something else. So, I hope this guide allows you to spend a minute of your time, instead of two of someone else's.

When you have a mechanics problem, you are probably wondering how you can find it, other than by asking the people here. The best part about DotA having a large community is that someone has probably asked your question before. This makes finding help immensly easier, because instead of waiting for a reply, you can merely look it up.

Fast sources:

DotAWiki (RIP)

The Library on DS is basically your local mechanics help and more. The guides on DS cover most of the basic mechanics of DotA, but does not have some of the detail of other mechanics areas.

PlayDotA.com is now the new official DotA site. It boasts some highly detailed mechanics sections, and more detail on heroes and abilities than any other site I have seen, since DotAwiki (technically a part of Dota-Allstars, but the server died at some point.)
When someone gives you an answer to a mechanics question, it is often because they looked it up on this site. The "Mechanics" section of the site provides details on unit stats, creep waves, exerience range, armor and damage reduction, and a LOT more. Check if you can easily solve your issue there.
Both the hero and the item sections give you information that was previously only easily accessible on DotAWiki (anyone who knew mechanics or how to answer the mechanics themselves did not like this site's death).
PlayDotA's Learn section is for teaching people some of the more basic parts of the game.

Finally, DotA-Allstars has a mechanics section. The Guides and Lists section of the site is probably more exclusive in most ways than DS's. Dota-Allstars' site has the oldest mechanics section, and has people who know the map inside out. I look here often to learn about mechanics problems such as "Which buffs don't stack with each other?" or "What damage type is <name of skill>?"

What is the easiest way to look up my problem?:

If you do not know where to begin, I will usually start with PlayDotA.com, as it is probably the best organized of all the main sources that I use. It covers most of the simpler, and less specific questions you may have. If there is nothing on that, check the DotA-Allstar's guides and lists for something that may be related to what you are looking for. Failing that, run a search over the mechanics forum with your key words. If that doesn't work, try the DS library, but you will probably have to ask the people of DS. Who may or may not know the answer, and will probably look the same way you did.
Generally I will know the simpler mechanics of the game off the top of my head, or will experiment . Experimenting is another way of figuring out if some things stack.

FAQs for mechanics:
Some of the most common questions that are asked are:

Does ____(orb/buff placer) stack with ____?
Find an orb effect stacking guide, there is one on almost every DotA forum.

What are the runes, and how do you know where they spawn?
Look on PlayDotA, they spawn every 2 minutes on the minute, starting from 0:00, assuming there is no other rune, randomly in 2 places in the river.

What's animation, and what is it used for?
PlayDotA's learn section has a topic for this. Animation is basically how a unit looks when it is moving, attacking, standing, casting a spell, etc.

What is shift quene? What is it used for?
This is a bit harder to find information about, but this is something that is part of WC3. Hold shift after you issue a command, then issue another command. You will see a flag pop up where you just issued the order. Your unit will now do it's original order, then do the next order.
This is a very useful command, as it allows you to time things perfectly (think Blink Dagger with Sand King's ultimate, to not miss a single pusle). One of the more common things to do is to shift quene something while you TP, often a nuke or a disable. You will teleport to the tower, and instantly start casting/attacking. Whether it be to save an ally or to kill an enemy, it is very useful.

Someone tell me if I have missed any of the common questions.

Mathcraft

What is Mathcraft?
Mathcraft is basically using math to figure out what something does, whether something is better than some other item, etc. It can be as simple as a damage reduction calculation, or as difficult as the Old freezing field mechanics problem.
For example, if you want to know what the average damage you get from Anchor Swing, you use the expected value, so an 80% chance to deal 0 extra damage, and a 20% chance to deal 200 damage. So, 20%*200+80%*0=0.2*200=40 damage on average.

What use is doing Mathcraft?
This can help you a lot during the game. Knowing how much damage a chain nuker deals EXACTLY is very useful. For instance, knowing that Tinker can deal "over 500" damage with both nukes isn't as useful as knowing that he deals 320 pure damage with laser and 244 damage with rocket, totaling 564 damage. It allows you to get kills, and not waste nukes, to have an enemy run out of the lane at 10 HP.

Common Formulas
Effective HP: (The amount of raw damage a hero can take):
((1+(0.06*armor))*HP)/(1-evasion).
So, if a hero has 1500 HP, 10 armor, and a butterfly, he has:
(1.60*1500)/0.7=3428 EHP.

HP vs spells:
Base magic reduction is 25%. Other items can stack.
HP/0.75 with a possible /(1-item/skill).
So, if a player has a Hood with 2000 HP, he has:
2000/0.75/(1-0.3)=2000/0.75/0.7=3809 HP vs spells

More coming.
<Attack speed calculation, Damage calculations, DPS>

Good Links
Battlecalc provides you with a calculator for item builds on heroes, DPS, EHP, build prices, among other things.

Last edited by bobbob247 on Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:11 pm; edited 2 times in total

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Posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:49 am

Maybe this should be in the Library?
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Posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:03 am

Amazing bit of info. Shift queue DOESN'T cancel animations. I'd be glad to help put this together if u need help.

Edit: shift queue good for low animation heroes. Not rylai or ogre. Haha

Last edited by Traxex_Drow_Ranger on Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:26 am; edited 1 time in total

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Posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:20 am

I'm also kinda hoping that this guide will reduce the number of random questions that we all just waste time answering, with 5 people posting things like "Skadi and lifesteal stack on ranged heroes."
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Posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:23 am


I was just about to say this. Please edit that bob.
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Posted on Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:23 am

Oh I know right.
"can I use SnY and EoS on morph?"
Yes.
"But they both orbs"
* shoots self in face *
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Send me feedback on it if you want too!
Thanks guys. I'll do other replays if you want. Just PM.
http://www.mediafire.com/?ywwxcimz0lb
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Posted on Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:01 am

TBH I don't see a point to finishing this if almost no one notices it.
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