Difference between LoL and HotS?

[Khaza-R]

HotS is steam-lined like all Blizzard games.

HotS learning curve is less than LoL which is less than Dota 2. Thats all you can really objectively say say about the differences between them all. Which ever you prefer in terms of complexity of gameplay is entirely your opinion.

Nothing wrong with any of them. Its good we have variety in the MOBA marketplace. Personally I like LoL's level of complexity.

[Baconeggcheese]

Plus Items are a lot more fun than skill choices IMO like in HOTS.

It's funny, I had the opposite feeling in regards to ^this recently. I went to load up league again after what's been... fuck I dunno at least a year if not two and they've changed everything... and I was almost instantly off-put by the thought of having to go look up new mastery builds and re-learn all the items etc and figure out builds for champions some of which are basically different champions after overhauls.

It all just made me feel like going back to hots, where the game is intuitive and I can just pick up a hero and do work without having to tab out of the game and study before I can play.

[Deleted]

The community is bad. You can build your hero pretty wrong with items.

[Rocosso]

After playing HotS a while I can't bother myself with buying items in Lol. Always forget it when the game begins and mates flame me for that ( lol).
HotS is utterly better when you have friend or two to play with. If Lol is ok when you are playing solo, Hots, on the other hand, is very boring after a while.

[LuciferTheIV]

HotS is a even more ez MOBA to pick up and play

in terms of easy to play it would be HotS>LOL>DoTA2 being the hardest imo.

[snackfeat]

The main difference is that LoL is better than HotS.

[Thrif]

Well, LoL and DotA are pretty similar, almost identical to a person not well versed in the MOBAs. HotS differ quite a lot from them however:

a) HotS has many different maps with many different objectives, DotA and LoL is almost exclusively played on the same one map
b) HotS has talents, DotA and LoL has items
c) HotS has team-shared exp, DotA and LoL doesn't
d) HotS has designated tank/damage/healer/specialist roles, while DotA and LoL doesn't

Basically, HotS is the epitome of team fights and pushes you to fight in team almost all the time to get objectives, while DotA and LoL takes longer and puts more emphasis on a lot of different aspects of the game.

LoL isn't a dumbed down version of DotA.

It is, though. No creep denies, no creep stacking, no environment manip (cliffs etc), no TPs to towers (huge one), I could go on.

Not saying it's a bad game, and "dumbing down" might be a bit too condescending of a term, but it's definitely an easier version of the game with less variables to learn.

[truckboattruck]

2 obvious differences in game play are 1.) no item buying and 2.) no personal experience gains (the team levels as a whole, not just the individual).

socialism.....makes my skin crawl

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The main difference is that LoL is better than HotS.

hots isn't for LoL and dota players

[Bloodletters]

It is, though. No creep denies, no creep stacking, no environment manip (cliffs etc), no TPs to towers (huge one), I could go on.

Not saying it's a bad game, and "dumbing down" might be a bit too condescending of a term, but it's definitely an easier version of the game with less variables to learn.

What are you referring to about environment manipulation? There are walls in League that you can jump/pass over with various abilities (depends on the champion) and you can also pass over walls with the summoner spell, flash. It's also incorrect to say you cannot TP to a tower, if you use the teleport summoner spell, you can do so. Creep stacking seems like a pretty minor thing as far as I understand it but yes, there is no creep denies, but you can zone your lane opponent out of creep last hits and even xp depending on the matchup. But anyway, I do agree that Dota has a higher skillcap than League, at least in terms of the knowledge required to play at a very high level. I also think League has a higher mechanical skill cap than Dota based on some of the champion designs like Riven.

[Thrif]

What are you referring to about environment manipulation? There are walls in League that you can jump/pass over with various abilities (depends on the champion) and you can also pass over walls with the summoner spell, flash.

Walls, yes, but no cliffs. There's no uphill advantage, no safe warding spots, no cliffdisabling by relocating people onto cliffs with force staffs, vacuums, flamebreaks, lassos etc. Fewer way to escape with blinks by knowing the terrain. I could go on, but in general the map is way more intricate due to the large number of trees and cliffs and abilities/items that manipulate movement.

It's also incorrect to say you cannot TP to a tower, if you use the teleport summoner spell, you can do so.

Which has a 300 second CD and forces you to give up other abilities that are really valuable to supports. Admittedly, yes you can do it, but you're giving up a lot by doing so. In dota, if your core dies under one of your towers and you are a support without cd on tps, it's technically a misplay.

Creep stacking seems like a pretty minor thing as far as I understand it but yes, there is no creep denies, but you can zone your lane opponent out of creep last hits and even xp depending on the matchup.

It does allow jungling to be way more intricate, meaning you can stack up huge exp/gold swings for your cores, but also the enemies can contest them. Getting your 4-stack ancients stolen by an enemy Gyro can be very gamebreaking.

But anyway, I do agree that Dota has a higher skillcap than League, at least in terms of the knowledge required to play at a very high level. I also think League has a higher mechanical skill cap than Dota based on some of the champion designs like Riven.

Not skill cap, but skill average. League is designed to be more about skill shots than dota, and most dota heroes are quite mechanically simple. That being said, if we talk cap, then DotA has heroes like Meepo, Tinker and Invoker with virtually limitless skill caps. So, 90% of the time or so, a league hero will be mechanically harder to master than their dota counterpart, but if you really want to master some hero with insane mechanical skill cap, then dota is still the game to do it in.

[Garkanh]

we can all agree Smite is better than both.

[Deleted]

I like both, personally. They have pros and cons. HOTS is much more casual and less painful for new players to the MOBA genre. If I were to talk to a new guy about MOBA's and get them interested, I would always start with HOTS.

HOTS also has characters that are easily well known. Who has heard of Nocturne? But almost everyone in the gaming world has at least heard of Thrall, Kerrigan, and Diablo. There is a thing to be said about playing a character you have a history of following, and a story you have feelings for. And for new players to the genre, you want to pull them in with that nostalgia and feelings as well.

I would say that variety, in terms of mechanics of characters, are much more diverse in HOTS. There are characters where 2 people play 1 guy, or 1 guy plays 3 characters. In League you have a lot of the same things in different mixtures and numerical formulas to produce very different results, yes, but they are still much the same things. The introduction of Sol is refreshing with his passive mechanics, but LoL is held back by having higher standards and expectations and acts more conservatively. Blizzard just seems to be more imaginative in terms of what they're engine can do. This is something even shown in the map enviroment. LoL is more conservative and goes back to its DOTA roots (which is a good thing) but HOTS is different in its maps, its map mechanics and objectives, its gameplay enviroment outside of the characters themselves. (In the end, that part is like comparing something you know is solid and works versus something exciting, new, and risky.)

I do prefer League. But I won't deny how HOTS has its good points.

[porterhouse]

Honestly I think LoL has better gameplay HotS. This is just my opinion and it's subjective, of course, but I feel LoL is much more responsive. I also prefer the ability to walk through other players in LoL rather than the body blocking in HotS. I know it's a design choice and it opens up new styles of gameplay for tanks and what not, but the pathing in HotS frustrates me so much at times. Trying to maneuver around even your own team in a team fight can sometimes have your hero turning around for a split second and moving the opposite direction because the path was cut off and when trying to dodge a flame strike and not being able to move out because a raynor is standing in your way feels bad. In LoL, your champ always moves exactly where you click and is unhindered by others.

I think HotS could fix this by maybe making collision detection only work for enemy units. Let teammates be able to move through each other... That would remove some of the frustration but keep the strategic element of it. I dunno.... Just my opinion. I appreciate the differences but if I HAD to say one was better, it would be LoL. I just like it's gameplay design.

That being said it's very difficult to just jump in and learn. There is a lot of info to learn very quickly. Try playing some ARAMs to get a feel for team fights and gameplay then try and play bots to learn the map. Don't be intimidated though. If someone is a dick just mute them and keep trying to learn.

[Deleted]

ask yourself

you want to play on the same ONE map in your entire life while you play a Moba and last hit grind minions ALL day ( LoL )

You want to play on like 8 different maps with different objectives where PvP matters more then farming minions all day ( Hots )

also Hots feels waaaaay more balanced in my opinion.

[Akta]

The main difference is that LoL is better than HotS.

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