New player, info wanted.

[Deleted]

Hey everyone,

I have just started to play HoTS with a buddy and was wondering some things. Our previous MOBA experience extends only to smite.

-How is laning done in this game? In other moba's there is a set amount of people that go into a lane at the start, but after my first few games I just see everyone run around randomly?

-Is quick match the only way to play normal/casual games?

-What is the difference's between an assassin type role or specialist type, I thought it was support at first but there seems to be a separate support role.

-Is the stuff in the shop really that expensive or does it only look like that because we are low level accounts? How long does it take to unlock heroes?

[Acidbaron]

- You lane but you are never fully rusted in your lane. It's there to get experience since there are no items and experience is gained in groups it's less important then events and group fights. And you win mostly by being able to succeed in group fights.

-Yes QM is the only normal play.

-Specialists are a bit more advanced and simply harder to play, they also are generally able to pull lanes solo but i think personally is just called specialist since they are more for "advanced" players.

- It is rather expensive but it starts to build up rather quickly look at the gold rewards you get 500 gold every time you get a hero to level 5 on top of account gold rewards.

[Keile]

-Laning is very important for the early game, as the team that hits level 10 first will have the upperhand in team fights over objectives. After this laning isn't as important, but XP soak is still something your team wants to do as often as possible (basically when not team fighting)

-Yes and no. Quick match if you want to do PVP, or Versus AI if you want to do PVE.

-Assassins serve one purpose: Deal damage. Specialists usually involve controling or pushing lanes. They can still do some really good damage, however. For example: Sgt Hammer is one of the hardest hitting heroes vs buildings and minions, and can obliterate towers if left unchecked. However in team fights (if your team is smart and they fight in your attack range) you will likely be one of (if not the) top hero damage as well. Although in HoTS Hero damage (or even kills) do not win matches, objectives do.

-The prices are fair, especially since they often do sales. There are several heroes that are cheap (<$5 or around 2k gold) that are solid heroes (Malfurion, Raynor, ETC). It doesn't take too long to save up the money to unlock heroes, however, if you make sure you do your dailies (you can store up to three daily quests. They vary from 200g-800g).

More than any other MOBA HoTS is about the team, not the individual. Do not worry about last hits (save for a few mechanics, such as Gathering Power talent but even then it is not game breaking).

[Kraenen]

I'll just add to the first note from my experience:

Some heroes "roam" around to sneak a killing blow on an enemy hero, you'll see Nova or Zeratul doing this a lot. There's sort of a sliding scale in terms of laning. In general: from 1-10 you spend a large chunk soaking xp (the rest on getting the objectives), then 10-20 is some mix of focusing objectives/mercs/laning, but after level 20 gaining xp isn't as important anymore, as it doesn't give you talents/ultimates past level 20, so you'll spend very little time in lanes, and try to clamp down on mercs and objectives and winning team fights. Some heroes change this up a bit, where you can get mercs instantly through talents, and sometimes your team might decide to do an early push with mercs.

[Sumaku13]

Laning: Compared to other MOBA laning in HoTS isn't nearly as important, since you don't get gold. The only reason laning is important is to soak exp. Ensuring you have 1 person in a lane, especially at the start is important. Lanes start to drop off in importance depending on the map and objectives. For example, for the Raven Map you will definitely find heroes rotating out of lane to collect the tribute.
Conclusion: Don't stick to your lane unless you are a specialist hero that can do significant damage (take the outer towers + main objective building). This is worth it in some cases but can be situational.

Quick match: If you're worried about how you'll do, I suggest playing a new hero in AI. That means there's no pressure from potentially toxic team mates, and it means you can try new builds in a relaxed way. Playing in AI (with other players) is a good way to learn the maps and also test builds.

Assassin/Specialist:
-An assassin usually has very damaging, bursty or lethal damage. They are normally very squishy, and if possible your priority to kill in most team engagements.
-A specialist is a class designed to fulfill certain roles - In my opinion, they are what I would call a "siege" character who excel at destroying buildings and pushing lanes solo. They are also strong contenders for 1v1, and when played correctly can be just as lethal as an Assassin when played correctly.

Pricing: The heroes seem expensive at first; I suggest playing the heroes that are free for the week and leveling them to level 5 for the 500gold.

a) Each hero you get to level 5 = 500g
b) Milestones on account level will net you some gold
c) Playing a new hero in AI will help you level new heroes; although most AI games don't last very long and so you get less exp
d) For more exp, make sure you are queing with a friend for the 50% bonus
e) At account level 10, you will get a Stim(stem?) pack bonus that increases your gold (only from games, not added) + exp gained ; make use of it!
f) DAILY QUESTS: Make sure you complete these!

When I first started, collecting gold seemed daunting - but the more you play, the more you will get. Use the free hero week to decide and see what heroes you would enjoy. I initially wanted to buy Zeratul but after trying him on a free week I decided to spend my 10k gold elsewhere.

You will generate your first 10k in no time, purely by doing dailies, account leveling and hero leveling to 5. Good luck!

- - - Updated - - -

Also, taken from http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Easy-1000-gold

"So if you click of the menu button on the main page and go to tutorial you can get a total of a 1000g for completing all 3 of them."

!!

[Endus]

Hey everyone,

I have just started to play HoTS with a buddy and was wondering some things. Our previous MOBA experience extends only to smite.

-How is laning done in this game? In other moba's there is a set amount of people that go into a lane at the start, but after my first few games I just see everyone run around randomly?

Laning in HotS is both less important than other MOBAs, and more flexible. You aren't going to be sitting in your lane for the first 10 minutes of the match, trying to last-hit minions. You need at least one person in each lane to soak the XP there, but otherwise, it's pretty open. For the three-lane maps, I usually see middle lane being the solo lane, but it's easy to swap that around, and swapping lanes is much more common, especially when you get a kill in the 2v2 lanes and one of you goes off to gank the poor sod 1v1ing in the solo lane. This happens pretty much from the start of the match.

As long as one person's in each lane, you're not losing any XP, because it's all shared, which is what makes things more volatile, since you can go gank another lane without sacrificing team XP in your lane.

-Is quick match the only way to play normal/casual games?

There's also Versus AI, but if you mean against other players, then yes. Versus AI is a good place to get a feel for heroes and to grind out the first few levels, getting their talents unlocked, before heading into pvp matches.

-What is the difference's between an assassin type role or specialist type, I thought it was support at first but there seems to be a separate support role.

"Specialists" are heroes with slightly oddball mechanics. This doesn't mean they do less damage than Assassins; I tend to main Sgt. Hammer, who's a metric ton of damage-dealing. But Hammer's specialized mechanics make them less Assassin-y, and are why the hero's classed as a Specialist. It's a bit of a catchall of the heroes that don't fit the three main roles.

-Is the stuff in the shop really that expensive or does it only look like that because we are low level accounts? How long does it take to unlock heroes?

It goes pretty quick, honestly. I'm playing supercasually; I'm almost at player level 15. I've already bought Sgt. Hammer and Raynor with gold earned, and I've got about 5.5k saved up; I should be able to get another 7k hero next week.

Skins and such are expensive, but you can unlock heroes just fine without spending money. Early on, there's some big gold rewards in player levels. Once those run thin, you'll have unlocked Daily Quests, which are something like 300-800g, depending on the quest; you get one a day, and they often overlap (Play 8 games, Win 3 games, Play 3 games as Specialist, three I had earlier this week, three matches with Sgt. Hammer and I cleared two and was at 3/8 on the first).

Given the number of heroes available, too, the "free roster" will give you a good idea of what various heroes are like; I recommend trying a hero out before spending the gold. If they're not up this week, they should be there in a week or two, given the size of the roster. There's additional heros on the free roster that get unlocked at player levels 12 and 15, too; once you get there, you generally have a decent selection to pick from.


Biggest things to remember in HotS is that this is very much a team game; while you can 1v1 with a lot of heroes, it's usually near-impossible to 1v2 effectively, even with a level advantage. Also, map objectives are crucial. Unless you're getting that tower down or that hero killed in the next 5 seconds, break off and head for the objective if your team needs you there.

[Mormolyce]

-How is laning done in this game? In other moba's there is a set amount of people that go into a lane at the start, but after my first few games I just see everyone run around randomly?

Knowing what to do when is a BIG part of HoTS. It can actually vary quite a bit, especially with mini-objectives like merc camps. Basically:

1) Lane until the first objective comes up.
2) Get to objective PRONTO. Teamfight. You really want to win these.
3) Either lane or do merc camps or sometimes even teamfight until next objective. As the match goes on (depending on map) the focus tends to switch from lanes to teamfights/mini objectives.

Now that's the basic idea but with good teamwork there's more options. Taking a merc camp or boss right before an objective comes up can be a devastating play, if you can pull it off. Also if the enemy team suddenly disappears they're probably pushing a boss or something - everyone should head there and contest, you might be able to wipe them out/pressure them off and then you can ninja their boss cap.

That's where the real strategy comes in and teamwork is ESSENTIAL for this. One derpy Raynor laning in his own little world, ignoring chat can cripple the entire team in this case.

-What is the difference's between an assassin type role or specialist type, I thought it was support at first but there seems to be a separate support role.

Assassins are pure damage, specialists sometimes have decent damage but mostly they're a "misc" category full of heroes with unique mechanics. These often have a laning focus.

-Is the stuff in the shop really that expensive or does it only look like that because we are low level accounts? How long does it take to unlock heroes?

It's as expensive as it looks. If you do nothing but your dailies I once estimated you'd unlock a new 10k gold hero once every month and a half or so. But of course, more play = more gold = faster hero unlocks. Also, getting all heroes on the FTP roster to level 5 is easy and a hefty chunk of gold.

Of course it's entirely up to you whether you want to unlock progressively or pay to unlock heroes. If you only play a couple of heroes or don't mind using the FTP roster, you can coast along just fine until you unlock everything you want, but it'll take time (and investment in games played). If you want to play everything RIGHT NOW, yeah you'll have to plonk down money.

If you're going to buy things for money, my advice is check the weekly specials. Things are very affordable when they're 50% off.

[Hand Banana]

It's as expensive as it looks. If you do nothing but your dailies I once estimated you'd unlock a new 10k gold hero once every month and a half or so. But of course, more play = more gold = faster hero unlocks. Also, getting all heroes on the FTP roster to level 5 is easy and a hefty chunk of gold.

Whoa whoa whoa that's absurd. Especially as a new player you get a metric ton of gold coming in.

16k gold going from lvl 1 to 40 in player level.
500g per hero to lvl 5 and hes got 36 heroes to work with on that.
Dailies ofc.
Free week stimpack at lvl 10 bumping gold for wins up to 75 for a whole week (50 for losses even).
Edit: And 1k for the tutorials which is awesome.

A month for just dailies maybe for a lvl 40 player who has everyone to lvl 5 but for a new player, he will be buying heroes left and right if he plays a bit. Play with a friend too, you get 50% more experience that way (and its more fun :P).

[Ausr]

Laning in HotS is both less important than other MOBAs, and more flexible. You aren't going to be sitting in your lane for the first 10 minutes of the match, trying to last-hit minions. You need at least one person in each lane to soak the XP there, but otherwise, it's pretty open. For the three-lane maps, I usually see middle lane being the solo lane, but it's easy to swap that around, and swapping lanes is much more common, especially when you get a kill in the 2v2 lanes and one of you goes off to gank the poor sod 1v1ing in the solo lane. This happens pretty much from the start of the match.

As long as one person's in each lane, you're not losing any XP, because it's all shared, which is what makes things more volatile, since you can go gank another lane without sacrificing team XP in your lane.



There's also Versus AI, but if you mean against other players, then yes. Versus AI is a good place to get a feel for heroes and to grind out the first few levels, getting their talents unlocked, before heading into pvp matches.



"Specialists" are heroes with slightly oddball mechanics. This doesn't mean they do less damage than Assassins; I tend to main Sgt. Hammer, who's a metric ton of damage-dealing. But Hammer's specialized mechanics make them less Assassin-y, and are why the hero's classed as a Specialist. It's a bit of a catchall of the heroes that don't fit the three main roles.



It goes pretty quick, honestly. I'm playing supercasually; I'm almost at player level 15. I've already bought Sgt. Hammer and Raynor with gold earned, and I've got about 5.5k saved up; I should be able to get another 7k hero next week.

Skins and such are expensive, but you can unlock heroes just fine without spending money. Early on, there's some big gold rewards in player levels. Once those run thin, you'll have unlocked Daily Quests, which are something like 300-800g, depending on the quest; you get one a day, and they often overlap (Play 8 games, Win 3 games, Play 3 games as Specialist, three I had earlier this week, three matches with Sgt. Hammer and I cleared two and was at 3/8 on the first).

Given the number of heroes available, too, the "free roster" will give you a good idea of what various heroes are like; I recommend trying a hero out before spending the gold. If they're not up this week, they should be there in a week or two, given the size of the roster. There's additional heros on the free roster that get unlocked at player levels 12 and 15, too; once you get there, you generally have a decent selection to pick from.


Biggest things to remember in HotS is that this is very much a team game; while you can 1v1 with a lot of heroes, it's usually near-impossible to 1v2 effectively, even with a level advantage. Also, map objectives are crucial. Unless you're getting that tower down or that hero killed in the next 5 seconds, break off and head for the objective if your team needs you there.

He can also try the hero out from the Shop window, which is very nice if you just want to see how the spells go, talent builds, etc (even though it is against an AI bot)

[Hand Banana]

I kind of want to piggy back on this thread if I can.

What is the leveling experience like? Not in terms of in game, but leveling an account and such. If you were to compare that to League or Smite (I'm not cool enough for Dota), how does it stack up?

Well I can't speak for Smite, but holy hell is it better than League. League's system is downright atrocious.

There are individual hero levels and player levels. You earn them both equally as you play games. You get rewards fairly often for player levels and get 500g for getting heroes to lvl 5. This encourages you to try out alot of heroes and learn the heroes by playing them.

For one (a huge one), you are not handicapped by lack of runes or masteries and not forced to spend your hard earned gold on anything but heroes (or master skins). Individual heroes are talent gated (you have access to 1 of the 2 Ults and half the talents) until hero level 4 (or until player lvl 25, which all gates are removed even if the hero is lvl 1). Basically after you get a hero to lvl 4 (or player lvl 25) you are on an equal playing field with that hero as someone who's lvl 20 and has been playing for a year.

The gold and levels flows in fast as long as you play (you get 50% more xp with a friend in the part also) a fair amount.

[Thelxi]

Hey everyone,

I have just started to play HoTS with a buddy and was wondering some things. Our previous MOBA experience extends only to smite.

-How is laning done in this game? In other moba's there is a set amount of people that go into a lane at the start, but after my first few games I just see everyone run around randomly?

-Is quick match the only way to play normal/casual games?

-What is the difference's between an assassin type role or specialist type, I thought it was support at first but there seems to be a separate support role.

-Is the stuff in the shop really that expensive or does it only look like that because we are low level accounts? How long does it take to unlock heroes?

-Laning is pretty simple, the goal is to soak every lane's experience while somewhat protecting your outer towers/fort and of course doing objectives. Some heroes can easily solo a 2v1 lane while others have a lot of trouble soloing lane. So if you have a Nova for example on your team, you should never let her solo a lane.

-Yes quick match is "normals".

-Specialist generally means PvE capabilities, like pushing lanes and soloing merc camps with ease. Most specialists have decent PvP damage too though, just not the burst that assassins have.

-Yes the cash shop is typical Blizzard in this game. They smartly have sales though, to keep the majority silent. If you don't plan on playing and paying much I'd advise you to level all the free rotation heroes to level 5 for the gold, do daily quests and only buy the champions you want to play. If you are interested in ranked just buy the very cheapest ones to meet the minimum.

- - - Updated - - -

I kind of want to piggy back on this thread if I can.

What is the leveling experience like? Not in terms of in game, but leveling an account and such. If you were to compare that to League or Smite (I'm not cool enough for Dota), how does it stack up?

You can really speed up the 1-40 account leveling buy buying a boost and playing in a premade of at least 1 for the 50% xp bonus. If you can't play with a friend you can easily find people in chat for the bonus.

In the end though it is about as fast as 1-30 in LoL. However you are not crippled while still leveling like you are in LoL with no masteries and no runes. As long as the champion you are playing is level 4, you have access to all talents. Account level doesn't really matter much in this game.

[Deleted]

Laning is quite important at start to soak xp, and there are different flavours on how to split up on the lanes depending on what map it is.

Quickmatches are casual pvp, and you can play vs AI if you want to as well.

Some heroes might be expensive for gold, the 10k ones but they are not needed to be viable. The cheaper heroes are just as good and some of them even better.
There are not that many heroes in the game as well, so if you play regulary you will get enough gold to buy what you want, unless you want them all =)
But there are also cheap bundles with heroes available if you are not afraid to spend a little cash

[Endus]

I kind of want to piggy back on this thread if I can.

What is the leveling experience like? Not in terms of in game, but leveling an account and such. If you were to compare that to League or Smite (I'm not cool enough for Dota), how does it stack up?

Haven't played Smite, but with League, leveling your player level was critical, to unlock runes and talents and such. That's basically not a factor, in HotS. Your player level is helpful in terms of what heroes are available in the free roster every week; an additional hero gets unlocked at player levels 12 and 15. But that's horizontal progression, not vertical; you're just as capable as a level 40, in terms of actual gameplay (they may be more experienced as a player, of course, but they don't have a numbers advantage over you).

The one place where there's some vertical progression is with the heroes themselves, but even there, it's just in the first four levels. Level 2 unlocks your second Hero Ability, at level 10, as an option, and levels 3 and 4 unlock additional talents. For many heroes, this isn't even a big advantage; they aren't "better" talents in many cases, just variety, but in some cases, they are the ones you probably want. Hitting level 4 doesn't take long, though.

In League, leveling to 30, I always felt underpowered. I've never felt that way in HotS, really. Levels are largely about cosmetic unlocks and gold.

[Mormolyce]

Whoa whoa whoa that's absurd. Especially as a new player you get a metric ton of gold coming in.

16k gold going from lvl 1 to 40 in player level.
500g per hero to lvl 5 and hes got 36 heroes to work with on that.
Dailies ofc.
Free week stimpack at lvl 10 bumping gold for wins up to 75 for a whole week (50 for losses even).
Edit: And 1k for the tutorials which is awesome.

A month for just dailies maybe for a lvl 40 player who has everyone to lvl 5 but for a new player, he will be buying heroes left and right if he plays a bit. Play with a friend too, you get 50% more experience that way (and its more fun :P).

Like I said, that's pure daily income, neglecting all the one-off gold you get when you're starting out. Which is substantial.

I kind of want to piggy back on this thread if I can.

What is the leveling experience like? Not in terms of in game, but leveling an account and such. If you were to compare that to League or Smite (I'm not cool enough for Dota), how does it stack up?

Levelling is not really a gate to anything. Heroes will unlock all skills in about 2-4 games. Account levelling doesn't really impact the game directly.

[Stormspellz]

I kind of want to piggy back on this thread if I can.

What is the leveling experience like? Not in terms of in game, but leveling an account and such. If you were to compare that to League or Smite (I'm not cool enough for Dota), how does it stack up?

their is no runes system or anything, and other then playing a few matches to open up all the possible talents and account lvl 12/15 to open up additional free hero slots rotations, that is all the account "grinding" needed