we've been on azeroth (east) last night, so I guess we'll be there again

We had four or five people on last night for some 2v2 and Demigod vs pubs on East, so we'll probably use East again tonight.

Join one and all, now staging in #demigod on irc.stardock.com...

Unfortunately a couple of the European players had to go to bed, but we did manage to do a 3v3 and at least I learned a bit while I was mercilessly crushed

We'll shoot for the same time next week for another round--hopefully with better advance notice we can get a full game.

Sorry I missed it. I'll try and make it next Saturday. The forums weren't really working for me today, so I couldn't find the information. Plus I got distracted making Spore creations. I'll get us a full 5v5. I have like 4-5 friends that I play with.

Thanks for the game mates!, it's was nice... even if my teammates made all the job and i have killed myself.... two times! *facepalm*

I don't like this sentence as it implies they beta won't start this week unless kryo is some kind of cruel sadist and is tricking me

I was kinda' thinking along the same lines =P

I can neither confirm nor deny that I have absolutely no clue when the beta will or won't possibly not begin.

well that wasn't a little confusing... i swear! So where is the information about the games? Everyone was saying they wanted to play and then suddenly people said they did play... How did people know when and where?

Basically just sit in the IRC channel on Saturday and/or Sunday and it all goes from there.

hmm... im feeling like a total n00b right now... irc channel?

Using the Chat function in Stardock Central or Impulse, connect to the server and enter /join #demigod in the textbox at the bottom. You'll find yourself in the wild and wonderful world of Internet Relay Chat

sweet, sounds awesome! Thanks, see ya there!

What mode are we planning on playing this weekend? AR? RD? AP? I hope not EM!!!!

I'd say -apem is probably the best mode to practice on.

em (easy mode) is a good mode to learn on. You don't depend so dearly on getting hero kills to stay caught up with the rest of your team. The added money will let everyone have a better chance at trying out items and recipes. The extra experience + money will also shorten the games.

-ap (all pick) will allow everyone to pick and practice the same characters before moving on to new characters. There are quite a few available choices and to a new player, getting a random hero every time can be intimidating.

For new players, I'd suggest picking a ranged hero as you can stay out of the heated action and you aren't as crippled in early game. Here is a list of good ranged hero's for new players:
Sentinel
Drow Ranger
Dwarven Sniper
Vengeful Spirit

Scourge
Lightning Revenant
Gorgon
Netherdrake
Venomancer

These are all agility based heroes. Damage items and attack speed are great. Even though you may be new to the game, picking these heroes will let you contribute well to battles going on, and you should be able to net pretty good gold from the creeps. Their weakness is in their health. A good ambush will easily put down one of these hero's.


There are also some good ranged spellcasters that a new player can have fun with and still be a contributor (especially early to mid game).
Sentinel
Lord of Olympia
Crystal Maiden
Tinker
Twin Headed Dragon
Slayer

Scourge
Tormented Soul
Demon Witch
Queen of Pain
Necrolyte
Death Prophet

These heros all have good spammable nukes. Early and mid game you should be able to string some of these together and get good hero kills. Many also have good Area of Effect spells for killing creeps and netting more gold. The weakness of these heroes is come late game, their spells will have less of an effect as opposing players get more hp and magic resistance. They can also be ambushed well, but a string of nukes on the ambusher may keep you alive a bit longer.


Finally, if you've played a few rounds and feel like going toe to toe here's my list of recommended starting melee characters:
Sentinel
Centaur Warchief
Earthshaker
Stone Giant

Scourge
Skeleton King
Tidehunter
Chaos Knight

These are all strength based. They all have a stun/slow and they will all be massive late game if you do not die too much early-mid. The key with these guys is to be patient. Don't go beyond the creep line, don't attack heroes early game unless you have help. Slowly build them up and late game they can ignore spell casters and if they can close the distance or surprise a ranged agility, they will dominate.


There are a ton of other characters to choose from. Before you play follow this link: http://www.dota-allstars.com/heroes

Read up on some of the heroes and see which you would like to play. There is a steep learning curve simply because of so many choices and combinations. It will take a while to learn all the characters abilities and you will need to have some general idea of what your opponent can do to form your own strats.

Also check out the items here:
http://www.dota-allstars.com/items

You could spend a long time during the game just reading what each of the items are and what they need to create the recipes. If you buzz over to the above link first, you can get an idea of the items before hand and get a good description of what they do.

Good gaming and good luck.

I hate em because it makes agility heroes way overpowered.

Also although Tiny is a great hero his combo toss and toss itself are pretty advanced for a beginner along with Earthshaker. I would recommend Tide Hunter like you did. I think Rooftrellen is a great starting strength hero. Also, Axe is a very good hero to learn with. I also think Juggernaut is a great hero to learn with. Anyway, I might jump on IRC and see if someone wants to play.

I hate -ap, because there we will only have imba picking

I prefer -ar

Like Odit said, a lot of people here haven't played before, or at least haven't played much, and getting a random character every time means you have to learn everything over again sometimes. learning new items for every character, learning all the skills and when to use them. It would really help if people could choose the same characters for a few tries so they can get familiar with the game play and not have to worry about things changing every time.

Hey!  You took my quote.

Agreed, Roofy is also a good str hero to learn with once the new player figures out how to use his melding to escape. The stun doesn't come till level 6 and has along cool down, but meh. My only gripe with a new player starting with Axe is he has no stun. Battle hunger is good for harassing and counter helix when at a safe level is good for creeping.

Jugg is also fun, but he's melee agility based (he used to be str based). That puts him into a classification that I would consider a little more advanced than the starting player. Once you get a handle on the basics and have played a few games, then I would say try on the other heroes including melee agility and finally melee intelligence. (for those who don't know, each character has 3 attributes. One is their primary attribute and usually receives the most bonus with each level. It is also the attribute that directly relates to damage).

I'm hosting an LC Demigod Dota Game at 6PM Eastern Time today. Anyone interested PM Heartsbane at the IRC channel.

Game tonight, don't forget guys

Looks like the World Cup killed tonight's game. Would you guys really prefer to watch soccer than to beat up on someone from a game publisher, getting some revenge for all the bad publishers of the past?