This is a long post. just an fyi.
I came into the DOTA 2 beta from LoL. Keep in mind, I'm a terrible noob, but these are my thoughts on why DOTA so much more fun.
There are a lot of things in LoL that bother me. The biggest thing that bothers me is the Rune mechanic. It's....annoying to spend 6 months playing 3 games a day just to be able to play ONE champion to their fullest potential. and if you don't have them, and you're against someone who does. It's over. I once saw a Shaco with a full Crit Damage rune page. He has a natural crit on one of his abilities and a 20% damage boost when attacking from behind. He two shoted me at level one. never saw it coming. worst feeling ever. from 1-9 he could take 2/3s of my health away with a single hit, provided he was able to use the 20% damage boost from his passive. ridiculous. you can't play against that. You just have to wait until levels offset the early advantage. my point: Runes are stupid.
The whole thing LoL has, where champions are buffed and nerfed also really bothers me.
In DOTA, there is this philosophy in the hero design where every damn hero had SOME SORT OF RIDICULOUSLY POWERFUL ability, and you are given two ways to survive a team comp that can AOE stunlock your entire team for 10 seconds: counter pick with hero, or counter pick with items.
That's the beauty of it.
If a good carry isn't countered in one of those two ways, and he finishes one or two end-game items. good job not countering him. He is now essentially an invincible killing machine and you are dead.
It's simple, it's elegant, and it forces you to 'think'. You CANNOT allow a carry to free farm. You HAVE to gank him. You have to counter him.
You cannot go up against a stunlocking team comp without realizing for your carry, and anyone else who has to be active in teamfights, a BKB (magic/CC immunity item) is mandatory.
You have to think in DOTA. Is Ursa killing you in .6 seconds and roflstomping your entire team? well....probably should have bought ghost scepter, or some sort of CC (Euls, sheepstick, ect) and laughed as you butchered him.
In DOTA, OP heroes are balanced by having EVERY HERO be OP. Heroes in Dota have skills for their Q W and E that you'd never see outside of an ultimate in LoL. every item has incredible potential to counter or supplement the huge power that is given to every hero.
and it is amazing.
it's a harsh game. Unforgiving of mistakes, brutally crushing anyone who doesn't understand a particular mechanic or hero, and if your team doesn't work together as well as the enemy team...well...gg.
Though I can't play most of them myself, I love that heroes like the easily countered Ricki (perma-stealth agility carry, who, like almost all agility carries, is a hard, or hyper, carry late game) or Ursa the pugstomp king (who has absolutely ridiculous damage without items: literally no other melee hero is capable of 1v1ing him. he can even kill the equivalent of Baron Nashor solo at level 7) are in the game. It creates a dynamic and strategic gameplay, where you can't just pick whoever you want and expect to win against reasonable players, but where you have to weigh your item and hero choices carefully, and work together to win.
In LoL, except at high elos, it's really just a battle of the carries, with everyone else along for the ride. In dota, it seems much more strategic.
I came into the DOTA 2 beta from LoL. Keep in mind, I'm a terrible noob, but these are my thoughts on why DOTA so much more fun.
There are a lot of things in LoL that bother me. The biggest thing that bothers me is the Rune mechanic. It's....annoying to spend 6 months playing 3 games a day just to be able to play ONE champion to their fullest potential. and if you don't have them, and you're against someone who does. It's over. I once saw a Shaco with a full Crit Damage rune page. He has a natural crit on one of his abilities and a 20% damage boost when attacking from behind. He two shoted me at level one. never saw it coming. worst feeling ever. from 1-9 he could take 2/3s of my health away with a single hit, provided he was able to use the 20% damage boost from his passive. ridiculous. you can't play against that. You just have to wait until levels offset the early advantage. my point: Runes are stupid.
The whole thing LoL has, where champions are buffed and nerfed also really bothers me.
In DOTA, there is this philosophy in the hero design where every damn hero had SOME SORT OF RIDICULOUSLY POWERFUL ability, and you are given two ways to survive a team comp that can AOE stunlock your entire team for 10 seconds: counter pick with hero, or counter pick with items.
That's the beauty of it.
If a good carry isn't countered in one of those two ways, and he finishes one or two end-game items. good job not countering him. He is now essentially an invincible killing machine and you are dead.
It's simple, it's elegant, and it forces you to 'think'. You CANNOT allow a carry to free farm. You HAVE to gank him. You have to counter him.
You cannot go up against a stunlocking team comp without realizing for your carry, and anyone else who has to be active in teamfights, a BKB (magic/CC immunity item) is mandatory.
You have to think in DOTA. Is Ursa killing you in .6 seconds and roflstomping your entire team? well....probably should have bought ghost scepter, or some sort of CC (Euls, sheepstick, ect) and laughed as you butchered him.
In DOTA, OP heroes are balanced by having EVERY HERO be OP. Heroes in Dota have skills for their Q W and E that you'd never see outside of an ultimate in LoL. every item has incredible potential to counter or supplement the huge power that is given to every hero.
and it is amazing.
it's a harsh game. Unforgiving of mistakes, brutally crushing anyone who doesn't understand a particular mechanic or hero, and if your team doesn't work together as well as the enemy team...well...gg.
Though I can't play most of them myself, I love that heroes like the easily countered Ricki (perma-stealth agility carry, who, like almost all agility carries, is a hard, or hyper, carry late game) or Ursa the pugstomp king (who has absolutely ridiculous damage without items: literally no other melee hero is capable of 1v1ing him. he can even kill the equivalent of Baron Nashor solo at level 7) are in the game. It creates a dynamic and strategic gameplay, where you can't just pick whoever you want and expect to win against reasonable players, but where you have to weigh your item and hero choices carefully, and work together to win.
In LoL, except at high elos, it's really just a battle of the carries, with everyone else along for the ride. In dota, it seems much more strategic.