r/learndota2 Dec 11 '25

Announcement No more AI coaching ads

162 Upvotes

I've gotten DMs and requests from 10+ people making AI coaching assistants this year, most of them offering to pay me to let them advertise here which I of course never accepted. I have yet to see a single one of them get traction or garner a userbase, for the time being they are banned from this subreddit. If one of them ever gets good enough to be of legitimate help I will revisit this decision.


r/learndota2 9h ago

Hero Discussion Why is Venge support is such a 50-50 hero in pubs? (2k mmr trench). What are her strengths and weaknesses in today's meta game in the support role?

12 Upvotes

My favorite hero since 2014, and loving her since the base attack time change. What are her main issues regarding the support role now? She can slowly farm waves during downtime but gradually since you must hit the creep wave after casting wave of terror putting yourself in danger. I feel like her swap is griefing when not practiced well or you can use it for the shield it provides. Her hp pool is so low that spell casting type supports can easily wipe her out during team fights. When do you pick her and what other edge or favorable things that a Venge can offer? Should I switch to more Int-type supports like Shaman, CM or AA? Solo queue is such a pain in the arse when playing pos 5 now that also mmr is so inflated and people from different timelines are swarming because of post TI and dark carnival event.


r/learndota2 10h ago

General Gameplay Question Why does collapse's undying, in TI grand final game one, drop octarine core before using soulring?

13 Upvotes

tried testing in demo it gives exact same amount of mana if you drop vs no drop, and also you lose the cooldown reduction on soul ring cd from 22.5 seconds to 30 seconds???

am i missing any reason to drop OC before soul ring?


r/learndota2 6h ago

Gameplay Review/Feedback request Lost TWO 1 hour games back to back against a jugg late game 2k mmr

4 Upvotes

I play mainly sven , I lost two games in a row against a late game jugg? Two times in a row ? Seems odd.

I really need to know how to win games using my gold lead and map control advantages without throwing.

I dont wanna blame my teammates , because I know i'm bad and I wanna improve and fix my common mistakes

If there are any vollunteers of reviewing my two games and why we lost , I would appreciate it

Maybe I play like a pussy when we have a lead? Or I prioritize the wrong enemy. Or play too passive? maybe even itemization cause one game i didnt buy mkb against jugg fly cause we were already winning , I dont know really. I just wanna know how to win with a gold lead without throwing.

Game 1: 8975148808

Game 2: 8976600516

Dotabuff: https://www.dotabuff.com/players/243387136


r/learndota2 16h ago

General Gameplay Question Last pick for Mid or Carry?

14 Upvotes

Hi guys, on the moment i have 5791 mmr and I cant figure out the most common question. Recently i had a match where i picked Terrorblade for the 2nd pick(after supports) and unexpectedly they picked 3 heroes who cover basically my entire hero. In my team, mid player didnt wanted to pick during second pick, and i was forced to pick Terrorblade as second pick. In the enemy team they give last pick to carry Phantom Lancer. So, question, should mid pick last or carry?


r/learndota2 7h ago

Hero Discussion Easy to play, hard scaling carries for low mmr?

2 Upvotes

I come from League and Deadlock, and a playstyle that has worked for me in those games is: play a hard-scaling character -> prioritize farm repeatedly -> come into fights with a massive advantage. Typically the mechanical execution of these characters is lower.

What would be similar for dota 2?


r/learndota2 12h ago

General Gameplay Question Question about laning

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6 Upvotes

I was watching this game and realized first 5 minutes, both ogre and np was ignoring bh like not hitting him at all almost, is there any specific reason for that? cuz i know if i play bh opponent will spam fireblast or other spells and right click, all just on me but here he was doing what he wants.

yes i know he has invis but even when he right clicks and be visible for the duo, they just do not deal damage to him.

is there any specific reason for that? they think it is useless to do?


r/learndota2 7h ago

General Gameplay Question Move Healing Ward without selecting + moving Jugg

2 Upvotes

Hi all,

I see pro's move Juggernaut's Healing Ward without selecting it and without Jugg listening to the move command. I watched Micro/Unified Orders with CTRL settings video's, but I can't make it happen.

When I use Unified Orders with CTRL, I move Jugg along and have to quickly select Jugg and stop/enter another solo action.

Is that the only way?

I don't wish to see the Healing Ward menu on the bottom but keep Jugg selected.

Thank you for the help!


r/learndota2 22h ago

Itemization deso and butterfly

23 Upvotes

why exactly do certain heroes buy these items? TA and PA rush deso, but other pure physical heroes like TB and sniper don't touch it at all. same with butterfly, except for PA, why wouldnt literally any agi carry buy this?


r/learndota2 17h ago

Hero Discussion Is Rubick pos 5, a grief or can it work?

9 Upvotes

Can i just pick Rubick blindly in pubs? I often get very good Rubick when played by the opponent. I really dont know how to play against him when he gets survibility items. He always baits us to our doom during the teamfights. He has the best nuke that is a very good trading tool in the lane. As a beginner, how do you play him? Can he scale late into the game and what are his strengths? I feel clunky and slow attack animations.


r/learndota2 11h ago

Itemization Advice on how to build/macro this game please

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2 Upvotes

r/learndota2 7h ago

(unsure how to flair) how do i get my behaviour and communication score

0 Upvotes

i just feel like its getting low because people thought i was griefing when i was a new player so i want to get it up


r/learndota2 23h ago

Hero Discussion How do I play Doom 3 pos?

12 Upvotes

So I go blink first item? I was told it's bad to go blink after phase boots. 50% peeps say midas and radiance are trash.

I noticed that all builds are maxing Scorched Earth and boy I can't wrap my mind around it. Please, I beg you, explain this to me:
1. Deals magical damage that scales very funny
2. Huge CD
3. Funny 6.66 hp regen no scaling
4. Funny 10% speed no scaling

Meanwhile, do I need to tell you the ridiculous amount of damage from the infernal blade? Or money from devour?

Thanks a lot for your advices!


r/learndota2 18h ago

Itemization Itemization on Faceless Void

2 Upvotes

I've recently played a few games as Faceless Void after a long time, and I noticed the itemization on him isn't as obvious as I remembered.

As usual with pos1, you go for a farming item first. So what's the rule I should keep in mind for deciding between Battlefury and Maelstrom?

I feel like Maelstrom is better in the long run, as it builds into Mjollnir later on, but without BF's regen boosts, I lack the sustainability for jungling.

Manta gives a nice stat boost along with the dispel, and the illusions are also useful for a small damage boost inside the chrono, so I'm guessing it's crucial in most games.

Butterfly and Daedalus feel like no-brainers too.

What's your usual item progression for Void and how do you handle the farming item choice? Does it make sense to buy BF, and still go for Mjollnir later on?

Also, how crucial getting Aghanims is, and where would you place it in the item progression?


r/learndota2 1d ago

Gameplay Review/Feedback request Lost at what to do as Mirana in hyper late

6 Upvotes

Just had this match in 4K MMR: 8976772753, I played Mirana.
We had a rough midgame but miraculously recovered and turned it around.
Ultimately we lost because I think we didn't have an answer to PL's illusions (only Mjollnir and Radiance). Even though we repeatedly wiped them in our HG, we lost structures each time and eventually PL just ran down our ancient.
Now, Mirana is a new hero to me, but I'm trying to make aggressive plays. In hyper late like this though, I get completely lost. It's hard to hit arrows through PL's illusions and they had several hard initiation heroes so I only feel safe in the back lane. So I took a back seat - got defensive items, disables, trying to hit my Q W to kill illusions with Conjurer's Catalyst, meanwhile my team is calling me out for "not doing anything", and I must admit by the end of the game my damage was pretty low. Calling me names is fun and all but it doesn't help me become a better player.
I'd greatly appreciate if someone scrolls through the lategame replay and gives some insight.

https://www.dotabuff.com/matches/8976772753


r/learndota2 6h ago

General Gameplay Question Unbalanced matchmaking and trolls on /Dota2 saying I'm the problem

0 Upvotes

TLDR: Yeah I'm a noob but it can't be the only problem here, what to do ?!

Almost every single game I play everything is massively unbalanced

at first, I listened to all these reddit trolls who said "git gud"

I changed my playstyle, watched pro games, picked up tricks here and there
then I bought Dota plus and checked game quality and other people's winrate and realized I'm not the problem (or the whole problem).

Matchmaking system recently makes the games extremely unbalanced, most of the time enemy team plays far better than what their rank shows, sometimes it happens on our team.

I thought it must be my frustration talking, but when I saw so many instances like the guy with 39% winrate playing like it's International 2027, I couldn't find any more reasons beside either these people are smurfs or the matchmaking algorithm is so damn broken.

I've been playing since 2013 and while we had occasional stomps, it wasn't nowhere near as bad as this. People usually played like what their rank was showing.

And don't get me started on role abusers, I can't count how many games our safe lane picked Lina and we lost, and it happens far more than what you'd call outliers.

So, 2 questions:

1: Why is everyone on reddit says it's my fault? and if it is my own fault, what is exactly my fault and how to fix it?!

  1. How to avoid this insanity?

r/learndota2 22h ago

(unsure how to flair) Content creators that post live commentary?

3 Upvotes

Are there any educational streamers or creators that have live commentaries? Most of what I'm seeing are post game commentaries. Live games are way more informative for me. Does anyone do that?


r/learndota2 1d ago

Hero Discussion How to farm with ember

14 Upvotes

the current meta ember build is vessel bkb aghs shivas (something like this)

I want to ask how to keep up on farm with this kind of ember build. In the past you used to buy maestrom or mage slayer (even further in the past bfury), and that typically let you almost 1 shot creep waves to farm fairly safely. However now it seems quite hard to actually effectively clear creeps in comparison. Am I thinking about it wrong, is the current ember just fight fight fight instead?


r/learndota2 1d ago

Educational Content (Content Creator) Sneaky Wards and More - The International 2026

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2 Upvotes

Hey! I just made a new video breaking down the warding at The International 2026 and some extra spots I find really useful, plus how the pros are using vision to actually create plays. Hope it helps your game!

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/ERpxpytSn-E

Thanks everyone


r/learndota2 1d ago

Gameplay Review/Feedback request How to be a better Naga? Games: 8976670727, 8976727568

2 Upvotes

So I've been playing Naga for some time, and I do well with her.

I start out very strong with farm that is above average (I think), however by min 20, I notice my farm and gpm drops below average.

My strategy with Naga when I have tough opponents is to just Rat them out and pick off enemies where possible until I'm ahead of them in farm then I join team fights and destroy them.

This usually works for multiple reason. 1) I get to farm freely, while 2) pushing lanes and taking out objectives, which in turn 3) forces the enemy to be split up to defend their bases allowing 4) my team to pick them up more easily.

The last game in particular was Very difficult due to a tough PL, so I literally gave up on fighting and went for pure ratting which won us the game.

While advice regarding fighting strategies would be welcomed, I'm more curious as to how I can imporve my farm because I get the feeling I can be Way ahead of the enemy in farm but I just fall back after the 20 min mark.


r/learndota2 1d ago

Educational Content (Content Creator) Things I try to do every game as hard support

50 Upvotes
  1. Resources win lanes. The temptation to build items that will last forever is strong, but if you're on a hero like Lich, CM, or other lane bullies (aka spell spammers), take full advantage of your kit and buy out the mangoes and clarities. Keep mana and HP on yourself and your core and watch how easy your lane gets. (Be courteous of heroes like SF in your games, who also depend on spell spam in lanes.)

  2. Wards save lives. Around 5m I'll normally place an obs not ON the gate, but in a spot that dodges gate sentries and shows the lotus pool and incoming traffic from the gate. I also like wards down the lane, though not in a spot that will be obvious. Another good defensive ward will show incoming TPs from enemy t1. If heroes like NP or SB are in the game, you may want to ward a bit earlier. Ward according to where you think the gank will come from based on who the enemy heroes are - especially if you plan to rotate or leave lane. P1 is safest with 2 obs at least.

  3. Rotations are amazing if you can pull them off. As p5 it's hard to get away at 6, 8, or 10 for the mid rune, but it's something to consider if your mid or the enemy mid cares about runes. For example if the mid heroes are things like puck, the spirits, qop etc, a rotation to secure the rune and deny the enemy can ensure your mid wins the lane. Two rotations and it's pretty much over for enemy mid. Definitely worth doing if you're with a p1 that can be left alone for a moment / can pull a stacked small camp for themselves.

  4. Lotus isn't worth your life, but wisdom is. If enemy offlane is weak or absent, get p1 to come with you to secure enemy wisdom. If they start TPing in, just get back. Another play my stack likes is for our mid (if possible) to TP to enemy wisdom and fight for it. Since this play is unexpected - and especially if we've won sidelane/mid - we can secure both wisdom runes and some kills for our mid by doing this. It's not always possible, but it is very worth it if you can manage.

  5. If your p1 is forced out of the lane (enemy Timber hits 6, it's undying + anything, etc) and has to jungle, don't panic. Many p1's can afford to do this. My typical response if my lane is too weak to live and there's no way for other lanes to support us is to go torment the enemy cores. Typically I'll rotate to play with p3 and 4, thus forcing rotations from enemy supps/mid and giving my p1 some breathing room (we call this plan B; it's not ideal, but if you need to use this option, it's good to know about it.) Anything is better than continually dying in a lane, so if you absolutely can't manage it, give it up and tip the balance elsewhere.

  6. Even if my p1 is safe in lane, I try to rotate out as soon as possible and pressure enemy p1. It's a bad gamestate for you if the enemy supps are reinforcing p3 against your p1 and p5, so you want to make sure the opposite happens. You do NOT want people in your safelane anywhere near your p1, so make sure enemy attention is on their own p1 and their rotations are defensive (to try to stop you/kill you). Try not to feed while doing this; it's mainly a 'kick the hornets' nest' type of play. Any kills you get in the process are the cherry on top.

  7. No-no zones for wards exist all over the map. Direct forest entrances/river ramps/pillars are a no-no for me unless my team plans to push/play around it and defend it. Otherwise, it's just free money for enemy supps. Try and find cliff "lips" and ledges that seem out of the way - often these dodge enemy sentries and, though they're a little bit tricky to click on, you'll get valuable information from them.

  8. Speaking of information, don't give the enemy any information that you don't absolutely have to (or if it doesn't matter). For example, don't show up to a gank or a bait and announce your presence with a VS W or a powershot. This gives the game away. Instead, be stealthy; don't show them your rotations or TPs, don't show them you going in or out of their jungle (because a good enemy supp will assume you warded), and generally keep a TP on you so you can quickly reinforce your team. The less the enemy knows, the better your chances of winning. (Conversely, giving the enemy disinformation is a next-level tactic. Showing one or two heroes on a wave while you're doing a smoke gank gives the enemy false confidence, whereas if all heroes are missing or if only a tank is showing with nobody else showing, a gank/bait is too obvious).

  9. Use smokes wisely, not just at any ole time. Play around timings, first your team's (e.g. if LC is close to blink let her finish it) and enemy's (e.g. if chrono/ravage/GS is down, run at them). Smokes are extremely useful with deep wards of your own, as you can get valuable info on the location of farming cores, as well as being useful for walking through enemy wards you know are there (since the presence of their obs will give your enemy the confidence to keep farming, since people typically don't expect a smoke unless ALL heroes are miss).

  10. Your job is, essentially, being in the right place at the right time. To do that, you must anticipate what the enemy wants to do. To do that, you click on enemies throughout the game to see what cards they're holding. All the information is right there if you just take a moment to look. Check enemy supps for wards, smokes, glimmers, dust, gems, etc. Check all enemy heroes for "go" items like blink, which indicate that a blink reveal gank is probably coming. Check cores throughout the game for big power spikes like BKB, satanic, etc. If you stay on top of the information in the game, you can control the game. That's basically how I see my job as p5.

Hope that helped, there's more but I like the number 10. Gl


r/learndota2 1d ago

General Gameplay Question Why do creeps randomly turn back when trying to stack?

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8 Upvotes

I have over 3k games, but I still don't understand why this happens. It seems to happen to be quite a lot, so I'd like to get down to the root cause so I can better my gameplay.

Match ID: 8975676599


r/learndota2 1d ago

Educational Content (Content Creator) Yatoro's Lone Druid is actually insane

3 Upvotes

Yatoro showing once again why he's considered one of the greatest carries in Dota 2. His Lone Druid mechanics and teamfight execution in this game were crazy.

What do you guys think — is Yatoro the GOAT carry?

Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt2tAe-kJz4


r/learndota2 1d ago

General Gameplay Question Why was I unable to grab the aegis in this match?

0 Upvotes

I was playing undying
Match id 8976414921
Minute 53:30


r/learndota2 1d ago

Hero Discussion is anyone finding success with naga carry this patch?

0 Upvotes

shes one of my fav characters but i basically havent played her for over a year now because she feels very underwhelming. laning as naga and using your illus just for them to evaporate at the slightest wind because the enemy pos4 used an aoe ability feels the worst. and if you dont use your illus because "ill use them after they used their nuke" then you are not pressuring which means you are getting out lasthitted 1v2 which will delay your 13 min manta and at that point its almost gg.

idk laning feels really hard with her to me, not to mention when i pick her into legion or axe. those turn into a lvl3 jungle moment probably. divine bracket btw.