Defense of the Ancients: Allstars

Not to be confused with Dawn of the Aspects.

DotA Allstars
Name	DotA Allstars
Map designer(s)	Elu (original) Guinsoo Icefrog Pendragon
Type	AoS
Download	http://getdota.com/
Version	6.83d
Update status	Inactive

This article is about a fan created custom map designed on Warcraft III with the World Editor.
The map contains non-Blizzard information, and events are not official.
It should not be taken as representing official lore!

Defense of the Ancients: Allstars (or simply "DotA Allstars") is a variant of the custom map Defense of the Ancients for Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne by Blizzard Entertainment. The objective is to destroy the opponent's World Tree if one is affiliated with the Undead Scourge side or to destroy the opponent's Frozen Throne if one is affiliated with the night elf Sentinels using one's hero along with allied heroes and allied "creeps" (AI-controlled fighters).

Defense of the Ancients, abbreviated as DotA, is an Aeon of Strife-style custom map created for the game Warcraft III. Originally developed for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos by Eul (US West), the map was later unofficially ported into the Warcraft III expansion pack, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Currently, several variants of the map exist under the name of DotA.

History

Defense of the Ancients: Allstars is based on the concept of Aeon of Strife which originated from StarCraft, by Blizzard Entertainment, and is the first of its kind to introduce custom skills.

One of the first AoS style maps in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, The Defense of the Ancients, was done by a map maker named Eul. However, after the release of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the map became unplayable, as it was edited with an mpq editor in order to change the files within the map for custom skills, due to the change of table formatting with the new World Editor that was actually capable of editing skills. In addition to this, Eul's expansion pack version of Defense of the Ancients, DotA 2: Thirst for Gamma, did not successfully take the place of the original Defense of the Ancients. In time, several spin-offs of DotA started circulating on Battle.net (the official multiplayer gaming server network for Warcraft III). Allstars at that time was a compilation of all the "cool" heroes in each spinoff and origin alike, and it quickly became one of the most popular custom games on Battle.Net.

Nevertheless, the person who put together DotA Allstars ended its revisions after releasing a Human vs Orc variant of Allstars. Shortly after, Guinsoo stepped up and became the main programmer for DotA: Allstars spanning multiple versions. Guinsoo, however, left the DotA community for World of Warcraft after version 5.84. Icefrog has been the DotA: Allstars editor/main programmer since version 6.

Development

Currently, in most versions of Allstars, the map contains many more heroes and items than does the original DotA, and is updated frequently, which may explain its ongoing popularity. However, this popularity sparked a controversy over who ought to be credited for its fame. For instance, a number of Classic players resent Guinsoo for having 'stolen' their game, especially since he has similarly stolen most of his triggers, spells, heroes and items from other people; Guinsoo, for his part, maintains that the map was created from scratch and based only spiritually on Eul's work - Guinsoo has only admitted to taking the terrain, which was manually copied, and the idea for some heroes: everything else is his own, he claims. Regardless, Allstars remains widely played, and is rumored to be one of the most popular Warcraft 3 custom maps of all time.

The 5.84+ Series

Bugs in version 5 of AllStars prompted many to offer fixes to Guinsoo but the development of the code was opaque and release schedules were discretionary. As such, the map forked in version 5.84c with Guinsoo releasing version 6.

Guinsoo ended the version 5 series with the creation of DotA Allstars 5.84, which added new heroes and a few bug fixes. Still, several errors and imbalances were overlooked in 5.84, such as the 100+ HP regeneration rate bug of Dragon Knight's skill Dragon Blood, causing Guinsoo to release a corrected version immediately, known as 5.84b. A developer named True.Rus (from Russia) developed an unofficial fork named 5.84c. Every version of Allstars released prior to 5.84c had focused on new functionality or heroes. The version created (or rather modified) by True.Rus did not feature any new functionality. Instead:

• It refactored the map tokens to allow for faster loading times (reports from frequent Battle.net players indicate a reduction of almost 1-2 minutes)
• It also fixed some game bugs which were caused by the 1.18 Warcraft 3 patch that affected 8 heroes, for example Chaos Knight, Phantom Assassin, Broodmother, Juggernaut and Vengeful Spirit.

However, this fork introduced a few minor issues such as:

• The hero Black Arachnia (the Broodmother)'s ability Spin Web, which usually gives her extra speed and invisibility in the game, only functions to provide a speed bonus, while the invisibility is non-functional.
• The hero Ursa Warrior's ability Fury Swipes, which gives a stacking damage bonus on every consecutive hit, does not work at all.

The 6+ Series

On February 28th 2005, a new era of Allstars began. Massive changes including new heroes, new items and a new Ashenvale tileset were released in version 6.0, a huge step from 5.84b. The changes were drastic and many people resisted and preferred to stick with 5.84.

The major changes involve:

• Inclusion of more heroes, items, and item recipes.
• Changes to some of the existing items and recipes; this includes the changes of recipe "levels" from 3 levels to 4 levels.
• Changes to the abilities of existing heroes, which require new strategies for gameplay (for example, the Stealth Assassin/Silencer whose abilities have been changed, therefore requiring a new style of play). This was a major factor which caused a number of DotA players to stick to version 5.84.
• Icy terrain and redesign of the map layout (such as the center lane tower positioning and the pathways in the Scourge side of the map).
• Loading screen and map picture

Shortly after the release of 6.01, Guinsoo went missing (unconfirmed rumors are that he now devotes all his time to World of Warcraft). During Guinsoo's absence, IceFrog stepped up along with Neichus. IceFrog is now the main programmer for the map, doing anything from implementation and balancing to debugging. With each consecutive version released by the team in the 6 series, bug fixes, new heroes and additional spells have been introduced.

During the 6 series, the terrain has been changed multiple times. In the original 6.0, and about 10 versions after, the tileset was Ashenvale. However, it was soon changed to an Icecrown tileset. Many players complained about this new tileset, claiming it was too bright, and made it hard to play for extended periods of time because of eye strain. It was later changed, around version 6.20, to the Felwood tileset that it is today.

The 6.20+ and Beyond

On October 31st, yet another era of Allstars began. With the newfound endorsement from Blizzard Entertainment themselves and a 'Cyberathlete Amateur League' division dedicated to Defense of the Ancients opening up, the new version took another drastic step forward which included many changes.

The latest change logs of the new versions can be viewed at the Official Changelog. With such changes, reactions have been both positive and negative, but it remains to be seen how the changes affect the game in the long run.

Since version 6.27, development for version 6.3x has begun, with IceFrog promising that new content will arrive "at a steady flow".

Current player trends

Currently, players have shown increasing interest in the 6.xx versions as with each successive version, more bugs are fixed and the map is believed to be more stable and balanced, as compared to the 5.84+ versions. Version 6.59d, the most current official version, is the most frequently played on Battle.net and LAN parties.

Currently, DotA Allstars is popular among many players around the world, as observed on the Battle.net servers and the PvPGN network of private servers. Players of DotA Allstars, particularly in the Asian region, normally go to cybercafés for friendly matches and cash tournaments.

Dota Allstars was also featured in the Malaysia and Singapore World Cyber Games 2005. The latest stable version is currently the official version for league and tournament play.

Blizzard has officially recognized DotA Allstars as its first Spotlight Map entry in the Battle.net Hall of Fame. It was also an independent tournament item at the debut of Blizzard's BlizzCon convention in 2005.

Clan TDA (Team DotA Allstars) of Battle.net's "Azeroth" gateway (serving the East coast of the United States) is the clan charged with arranging DotA Allstars matches.

Gameplay

Concepts

Since DotA (Defense of the Ancients) is a custom map, some of the game concepts are very different from the original Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos or the expansion The Frozen Throne. The original game and the DotA custom map, however, do share some similarities, such as usage of modified Warcraft characters, adaptation of Warcraft spells such as Heal, and items such as Boots of Speed.

For the DotA map, two bases are set at opposite corners of the map. In each base is situated a central building known as the Ancient, from which the map derives its name. The goal of the game is to destroy the Ancient of the opposing team and to defend one's own ancient. Ancients used for each team are commonly The Frozen Throne/World Tree (in the variants Classic, Allstars); and the normal Town Centers for either side (in the variant Outland). Three lanes join the two bases. A river runs diagonally through the center of the map, perpendicular to the three lanes. Each team has a number of defensive towers in each lane, placed on their side of the river.

The teams consist of up to five players, each controlling a single hero, and a computer which controls creeps. Standard variants do not support the artificial intelligence (AI) for computer controlled heroes. A variant known as DotA Mercenaries has allowed more computer controlled players, and is commonly used for training purposes or when other human players are not available to play with. Some developers are coming up with test versions of DotA maps with variable-skill AI players. The latest being Cloud_str who created dota allstars 6.27b AI.

The opposing bases produce troops, known as creeps, every 30 seconds, beginning at 1 minute 30 seconds, except in league mode and random draft, in which creeps spawn at the 3 minute mark. The creeps are produced in sets (also known as waves or spawns) composed of a number of melee units and a single ranged unit, and path down the three lanes available on the map towards the opposing team's base. The creeps for the Scourge are composed of several Ghouls and a single Necromancer, while the creeps for the Sentinel are composed of several Treants and a single Druid of the Talon. As the creeps travel along these lanes they will battle any opposing creeps, heroes, or towers they meet. Towers possess superior firepower compared to the creeps, so it is difficult for creeps to advance past towers without assistance of a hero.

Certain versions of DotA (e.g. Allstars and Mercenaries) have Runes in the river which can be picked up by any hero to gain bonuses for a short time (such as Double Damage, Regeneration, Haste, [Illusion], and [Invisibility]), while other versions have different uses for Runes (e.g. challenge activation in Outland).

Without the influence of heroes, the game cannot quickly be won by either team. Creeps will battle each other and then sacrifice themselves in futile attacks on the towers. However, in practice, there will usually be a slight imbalance of power over time due to the specific placement of towers, creep paths, and other variables (due to slight tweaks over a number of versions, the "advantaged" side varies). This imbalance, however, is so slight that the presence of even a single hero for any amount of time will negate it.

Introduction to Heroes

Heroes are ranked by level. Upon gaining a level, heroes receive bonus attributes (see below) and a skill point to be spent in learning a new or upgrading an existing skill. Heroes may gain levels during the game by earning experience. Experience can be earned by killing creeps, which is known as creeping or farming and by killing enemy heroes which is known as pawning which lets a hero earn much more experience points. Neutral creeps of varying difficulty are also planted throughout the map, and they may also be killed for experience and gold. Neutral creeps are not programmed to do anything except battle other characters who come too close; as such, they exist only to be killed for experience and gold. These neutral creeps vary in strength from very weak level one creeps, to very powerful ones which a whole team of high level heroes needs to fight in order to win (e.g. Roshan, in DotA Allstars). Although some heroes posses the capacity to defeat Roshan by themselves even at low levels(e.g. Ursa)

Hero Attributes

Heroes possess three main statistics, known as attributes (Strength, Intelligence, and Agility) with every hero having a Primary Attribute. The Primary Attribute can be determined based on icons shown on the status panel, as depicted here (Strength depicted by a "fist", Agility by a "foot", and Intelligence by a "mind"). Increasing the Primary Attribute of a hero will increase the hero's damage. In addition, increasing the attributes of a hero will enhance corresponding statistics for that hero.

• Strength enhances hitpoints and hitpoint regeneration. 1 Strength point = 19 HP, 1 Strength point = 0.03 HP/sec regeneration increase
• Agility enhances attack speed and armor rating. 7 Agility points = 1 armor, 1 Agility point = 1% IAS (increased attack speed).
• Intelligence enhances mana points and mana regeneration. 1 Intelligence point = 13 MP, 1 Intelligence point = 0.04 MP/sec regeneration increase

(The effects of an improvement of a hero's attributes may vary between different heroes. Check this page for complete information about this issue: http://www.ibaam.com/wc3/stat_analysis.shtml)

Hero Statistics

Heroes also possess a variety of statistics that may be altered by inherent skills, purchased items, or changes of attributes:

• Attack Damage indicates how much a hero's attack subtracts from the recipient's hit points. Increasing the Primary Attribute of the hero will increase its attack damage, where every point of increase in the Primary Attribute increases the attack damage by one point.

• Attack Speed determines how fast the hero uses their attack. A hero with double the attack speed of another hero would, therefore, strike twice as often in a given window of time. Attack speed is determined by a base speed for each hero, and it is increased by agility.

• Hit Points represent how much damage a hero can absorb before he is killed. Hit points regenerate with time to a maximum number. The maximum number of hit points a hero has and the rate at which it regenerates is a function of the hero's strength attributes. Higher strength heroes have a higher maximum number of hit points and regenerate faster. Hit points are indicated by a current and maximum value.

• Mana Points - A hero's mana is the amount of energy the hero has for utilizing abilities or casting spells. Most (but not all) abilities are powered by mana. Mana is also regenerated over time. The maximum amount of mana and the rate of mana regeneration is a function of the intelligence of the hero. Mana points are indicated by a current and maximum value.

• Armor Rating - A hero's armor rating is how much physical damage to the hero is reduced, where physical damage excludes damage from spells, however magical damage done to a hero is reduced by 25% (which can also be stacked diminishingly with specific items and skills). The amount of physical damage reduced by armor is viewed as a percentage and will have diminishing returns as the armor count becomes higher.

• Movement Speed - Determines how quickly the hero travels over a given distance, excluding the effects of spells. The movement speed is a base value of roughly 300, which is different from hero to hero, but may be modified by abilities or items. There is, however, a specific cap around 522 to movement speed that cannot be exceeded, though most heroes will not encounter this cap.

(A few heroes can attain this movement speed without a haste rune which causes the hero the move at the 522 movement speed mark regardless, those being Balanar the Night Stalker who has a passive run increase at night, Slardar the Slithereen Guard with his Sprint ability, Barathrum the Spirit Breaker with his Charge ability, Strygwyr the Blood Seeker who easily reaches 522 with his Strygwyr's Thirst ability, Anub'seran the Nerubian Weaver with his Shukuchi ability, Bone Clinkz the Bone Fletcher with his Windwalk ability, Syllabear the Lone Druid with his Rabid ability, and Banehallow the Lycanthrope while in his Wolf form.). Note that speed also increases by use of boots of travel and Sange and Yasha (DotA-Allstars).

Summary of Attributes vs Hero Type and Statistics

A summary of the hero types based on Primary Attributes:

• Strength - usually a powerful melee attacker.
  • Pros: High Hit Points, fast HP regeneration rate, high damage, usually have a stun/disable spell
  • Cons: Attack is melee range only, low armor, slow attack speed, slow movement speed, weak early game
  • Examples for Outland: Dragon Turtle, Spinewrath, Dominator
  • Examples for Classic: Commander of the Abyss, Dragon Knight, Mannoroth, Garrondel
  • Examples for Allstars: Rogue Knight, Skeleton King, Centaur Warchief, Slithereen Guard, Tidehunter, Doombringer, Lifestealer, Butcher, Chaos Knight, Treant Protector, Spiritbreaker, Lord of Avernus, Lycanthrope
• Agility - usually archers, assassins, or rapid attackers. Can be either melee or ranged.
  • Pros: High damage, fast attack speed, high armor, passive abilities such as Critical Strike or Evasion
  • Cons: Low HP, lacks disable ability, weak early game
  • Examples for Outland: Disintigrator, Aquasoul, Lividus
  • Examples for Classic: Mageslayer, Zuljin Andorhall, Troll Warlord
  • Examples for Allstars: Drow Ranger, Bone Fletcher, Juggernaut, Lightning Revenant, Phantom Assassin, Stealth Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Dwarven Sniper.
• Intelligence - usually spellcasters.
  • Pros: Usually ranged, high maximum mana, fast mana regeneration rate, powerful spells, strong early game
  • Cons: Low HP, low armor, weak late game
  • Examples for Outland: Stormweaver, Iviyst, Voodoo Shaman
  • Examples for Classic: Drenia Darkhaven, Wavebreaker, Soulrender, Purity's Disciple
  • Examples for Allstars: Crystal Maiden, Necrolyte, Witch Doctor, Lich, Lord of Olympia, Slayer, Shadow Shaman, Ogre Magi, Dark Seer(Ogre Magi and Dark Seer being the only melee Intelligence heroes) Demon Witch, Enchantress

Terminology

Players of DotA Allstars (and DotA in general) have developed a list of jargon and terminology that is frequently used during in-game chat sessions and inter-player communication.

Allstars Hero Classifications

Heroes in Allstars are given certain classifications which will influence their method of play. For example, stunners (heroes which can stun enemies) are usually accompanied by assassins or nukers to efficiently kill an enemy hero.

This is an alphabetical listing of common classifications and their characteristics. Do note that some heroes can be given more than one classification (e.g. Lion as a stunner-nuker-disabler).

• AOE Heroes - AOE is short for "Area Of Effect". AOE heroes tend to refer more to heroes with the ability to do massive area damage.
  • By definition, AOE spells are spells that are cast by certain heroes, causing devastating amounts of damage or long-duration stuns in a large radius within a short period of time.
  • Heroes with AOE spells are almost always used in higher level play and clan matches due to their ability to quickly disable and/or kill the opposing team within a relatively short period of time.
  • Examples of AOE Heroes: Sand King (with his Epicenter and Caustic Finale in version 6), Leshrac/Tormented Soul (with all 4 of skills: Chain Lightning/Earthquake/Diabolic Edict/Pulse Nova), Crystal Maiden (with Freezing Field/Frost Nova), and Pit Lord (with Firestorm and Pit of Malice).

• Assassins - Heroes which specialize at killing other heroes quickly.
  • These heroes usually deal physical attacks. Queen of Pain and Nerubian Assassin are two examples of those that mainly use spells. All of them have some form of invisibility or sudden ambushing ability. Most assassins are agility-based heroes.
  • Any hero with Windwalk, an invisibility skill or partial concealment (Blur), or blink (teleportation) can fall into this category, depending on what build is used and how the hero is played, of course.
  • Examples of Assassins: Nerubian Assassin, Stealth Assassin, Phantom Assassin, Bounty Hunter, Bone Fletcher, etc.

• Disablers - Heroes who possess the ability to "disable" other characters, basically forcing them into a disadvantage while they attempt to fight or flee.
  • Disabling skills include any that affect the enemy in one or more of the following ways (with examples):
    • forced movement (Greater Bash, Berserker's Call, Nether Swap)
    • disallowed/slowing of movement (Storm Bolt, Magic Missile, Shadow Strike, Frostbite, Frostmourne, Degen Aura, Grave Chill, Penitence)
    • prevention/reduction of physical attack (Heartstopper, Decrepify, Terror)
    • prevention of spell-casting (Global-Silence, Silence, Crippling Fear)
    • increased damage taken (Decrepify, Terror, Penitence)
  • One of the most common forms of disable, "Stun", incorporates the middle three criteria as per the list (refer "Stunners" below). Many other skills, including some of the ones listed above, fit into several categories. Only a few examples are given for each type; this is by no means the complete list.
  • Though many spells fall under the above categories, the common definition of a disabling spell is one that can extend an enemy's presence in combat against his or her will, which therefore only includes the first two of the listed effects. It is also possible to buy Eul's Scepter of Divinity (upgradable to Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse) to add another disabling ability to a hero's repertoire.
  • Examples of Disablers: Rhasta, Lion and Atropos, all having two main disable skills (Lion has Impale and Voodoo, Rhasta has Shackles and Voodoo [he can also trap via Mass Serpent Wards if targeted properly], and Atropos has Nightmare and Fiends' Grip).

• Nukers - Heroes who possess the ability to cause a significant amount of damage in a single instant via use of activated abilities in lieu of a physical attack.
  • Almost all nukers are intelligence heroes, for the reason that very few others have the mana to cast a concurrent series of spells to significantly do damage to their opponent.
    • Examples of heroes which are Nukers: Slayer (with the highest single damage spell in-game, Laguna Blade) Lich (with Frost Nova and Chain Frost), Crystal Maiden (with Frost Nova and Frostbite combined with Freezing Field), Lion (with Impale and Finger of Death).
  • Spammers - Heroes who spam, or repeatedly cast offensive spells in an attempt to kill an enemy hero or disrupt the opponents' play.
    • This frequently causes enemy heroes to go back to their Fountain of Health to heal, thereby wasting time and causing the enemy hero to lose experience. A "spammer" is typically just a specific kind of nuker, with the ability to repeatedly cast a particular spell efficiently.
    • Examples of Spammer heroes: Zeus the Lord of Olympia (with continuous Lightning Arc), Boush the Goblin Tinker (with Heat-Seeking Rockets and Rearm) and Krobelus the Death Prophet (with continuous Carrion Swarm, buffed by the Witchcraft skill).

• Pushers - Heroes which can quickly destroy enemy towers and creep generators due to their ability to summon additional units or deal damage to an area of enemy creeps.
  • These heroes often get items like Mekansm and Ring of Basilius to boost the power of their creeps.
  • Examples of Pushers: Furion the Prophet (with Force of Nature), Death Prophet (with Carrion Swarm and Exorcism), Keeper of the Light (with Ignus Fatuus), Meepo (with Divided We Stand), and Dirge( with Raise Dead)

• Stunners - Heroes who possess the ability to Stun other characters.
  • Some heroes have Stun as an active spell.
  • Other heroes have passive skills enabling their attacks to have a chance of stunning. When such heroes are able to keep the enemy constantly stunned it is known informally as permastun (a portmanteau of permanent-stun).
  • Such passive stunning heroes are usually equipped with items which increase attack speed and the item Cranium Basher to improve the percentage of hits which can stun an opponent.
  • A stunner also belongs in the "disabler" hero classification, but as they are so common, they have a subgroup.
  • Examples of Stunners: Centaur Warchief (with Hoof Stomp), King Leoric and Sven the Rogueknight (with Storm Bolt), and Raigor the Earthshaker (with Fissure and Aftershock).

• Support - Heroes whose skills are meant to directly aid the rest of the team.
  • Heroes with healing and buffing skills fall into this category. "Pushers" (see above) can also be counted as support, although sometimes they can be used individually instead of working together with the team.
  • Mekansm, and to a lesser extent, Ring of Basilius, are often used to heal and boost the armor of teammates (Mekansm's equivalent in version 5.84+ is Nethrezim's Buckler).
  • Examples of Support heroes: The Omniknight (with Purification, Repel, and Guardian Angel), and the Treant Protector (with Living Armor, Eyes of the Forest, and Nature's Guise) are good examples of support heroes.

• Tankers - Heroes who can absorb huge amounts of damage with either high health or armor count, usually both.
  • Typically used to attract tower fire and bait enemy heroes into wasting nukes or into traps.
  • In order to further improve tanking ability, items that boost armor, health, and self HP-regeneration (Heart of Tarrasque) or lifesteal/consumption of creeps (Satanic) are often used.
  • e.g. Treant Protector (with Living Armor and the highest base strength in the game), Centaur Warchief (with high base Strength and Great Fortitude), Axe (with Berserker's Call), Pudge the Butcher (with Flesh Heap), and Morphling (with Morph Strength).

Nouns and Miscellaneous Terms

• backdoor - This term is used to indicate a hero that sneaks into an opponent's base to cause damage to buildings WITHOUT pushing the creeps back. It is not considered backdooring if you have fought against the creeps until you reached their base. Backdooring is generally frowned upon by many players. According to the official rules the only form of illegal backdooring is teleporting into enemy base (i.e. Furion) while no creeps are there. Attacking towers/buildings without creeps is considered legal, but highly frowned upon. Other clans and public players may have differing views of what is legal and may ban you if you do so, so be warned.
• BL/Banlist - A free 3rd party program that keeps track of leavers and attempts to prevent them from joining games. It works outside of WarCraft 3 and intercepts packets. In-game, the user can label people as leavers and keep track of them in a database, pinging players to check for latency ("laggers"), detecting players marked in the database, recognizing multiple players with the same IP address (this means they're on LAN), and more. These programs are not as widely used as the game names seem to indicate. Leavers are rampant as ever in the DotA world. These programs are inherently innefficient due to dynamic ips and the ease at which players can create new accounts on battle.net. Third party programs also are against the battle.net terms of use. Refer to the links section for download links.
• bs - refers to one of three terms:
  • "backstab", same meaning as "to ambush". Refer "backstab/bs" in the next section for details.
  • "bullshit", used to express disbelief at something unexpected, such as a kill steal or being gangbanged.
  • The hero Bloodseeker (Scourge).
• cm - refers to either:
  • A short form of "clan match". Clan matches are played against other DotA clans. Similar in use to "inhouse".
  • The hero Crystal Maiden (Sentinel).
  • Captain mode.
• dropper - This is a player who was disconnected and was dropped by the other players from the game. Some players do not distinguish "droppers" from "leavers" and this can result in ban which is somehow unfair because dropping is not done due to the player’s will. Also see "leebist".
• feeder - A player letting himself be killed by his opponents over and over again, sometimes due to inexperience but other times intentional, feeding them with experience and gold, creating an advantage for these opponents.
• ff - Stands for the word "Forfeit", used mainly in TDA games and other forms of higher level play as a way for a team to forfeit and withdraw from a game before the Throne/World Tree is destroyed.
• ffs - For fuck's sake. This term is used frequently to give extra importance to orders, for example in "def ffs" - urging the team to defend the base.
• gg - Good game. A term used by players as respect to their opponents, meaning the game was good. It is usually said at the end of the game (though not only in DotA). It is sometimes used sarcastically; since gg usually is said at the end of a game, players saying gg before the game are implying the other team or their own teammates that the outcome has been already decided.
• gj/gw - Good job/Good work. Used to congratulate teammates for scoring a successful kill, especially multiple kills or kills involving teamwork. Similar to 'n1' below
• griefer - Someone who intentionally makes it hard for their team. Examples of "griefing" are relaying what plans your team is making, buying items for the enemy team, stealing/destroying your own team's items, using bug abuses to hinder your team with your hero's skills, blocking, friendly-fire (killing friendly heroes which are near-death, inflicted by Shadowstrike or Doom) even when they wouldn't have died, and feeding.
• imba - Imbalanced. Used to indicate a hero, item or team that is considered inherently to be too strong.
• inhouse - Also know as "ih", a game in which players who join are from a specific channel/clan, usually seen as more of a competitive style of play as opposed to public games, as only a select few may join. Compare: public games.
• ks - Kill Steal. Used to indicate the action of a hero "stealing" what another considers his kill; for example a hero attacks an enemy until near death, and the hero who "ks" delivers the final attack to the enemy, thereby getting a kill point (for any version of DotA). May also be extended to tower kills. Usually this type of action is not encouraged. A player that KSes is called KSer.
• leaver/quitter - This is a player who has intentionally left the game. This is quite a problem for the DotA community, because when a person leaves the game, it creates a favorable position for the opposing team. The "leaver" problem has prompted third parties to create the Banlist program (refer "Banlist").
• mh - Short for "maphack". This acronym is generally used to accuse a player(s) of having an unfair advantage through third-party programs that keep the entire map revealed for the accused player(s).
• n1 - Nice one. Similar to, but slightly less common than, 'gj' (see above).
• noob, newb - may imply either one of the following:
  • Simply a short form for "newbie", a person who is new to the game or unskilled in play. Antonym: pro, godlike
  • Sometimes used to address a player who doesn't listen to advice, strive to improve, or are rude to other players.
  • Insulting another player by comparing him to someone who has just started playing.
• pub - also called "pubbie," a public game, opposite of "inhouse".
• plugger/puller/pp - someone who intentionally disconnects from a game. Either used to annoy the other players in the game by forcing them to wait for the plug puller to drop, or to be able to claim that you did not purposefully leave, so as to avoid being put on a banlist (see above). Name derived from the act of physically pulling the Ethernet cable out from its port, hence the name.
• Roshan - The strongest neutral creep in the map, near the center-most tower on the Scourge side. All players of the team that slays Roshan will receive +200 gold and the player who lands the final blow gets approximately 350 gold extra. In the latest version, 6.44b, Roshan will drop Aegis of the Immortal, an older item that was considered imbalanced. It contains one instant reincarnation charge.
• rm/rmk - Cue used to request a rematch or a remake.
• sg/my and other country abbreviations or two-letter country codes - a suffix often added to game titles meaning the game host is from a certain area and therefore preferring players in the same country. This is because the geographical closeness of players within the game affects latency. "sg" is sometimes mistaken as "short game".
  • Examples of country/region abbreviations: pe/Per for Peru,sg/Sing for Singapore, my/Msia for Malaysia, br/bra for Brazil, ph/pinoy for Philippines, au/Aus for Australia, cali for California,USA, tw for Taiwan, hk for Hong Kong, ca for Canada, eu for Europe, sk/svk for Slovakia, cz for Czech Republic, ee for Estonia, nz for New Zealand, dk for Denmark and bg for Bulgaria.
• OC - A term which was an abbreviation for "over creeps"; meaning there are more creeps than usual in a lane. Happens most of the time when a hero kills more creeps or has a Regeneration aura item such as Headdress of Rejuvenation/Mekansm.
• SS - A term "skill shot", referring to a hero's ultimate skill. Derived from the MMO game Gunbound's "SS Shot" ability. Another term can also screen shot.
• zomg - A phrase that derived from a typo while typing "OMG"(standing for "Oh my God"). This phrase, for some reason, seemed to be catchy and humorous to all the Defense of the Ancients: Allstars players. This phrase is used whenever something happens to a player or a team that they dislike. Sometimes, it may be used just because it is humorous.

Actions

• back or b - Used to cue team members to retreat.
• blow/det/boom - Instruction to detonate mines laid by the Goblin Techies hero (Sentinel), to damage enemies.
• bs/backstab - In general, a hero (or a few of them) abandons his lane in an attempt to ambush heroes in another lane, generally by hiding in the woods for extended periods of time and attacking the victim from the back, cutting off easy escape. This term is said as a command for a teammate to stand behind a farming opponent, usually to cut him off as he runs away from an attack or gb/gank. This also refers to a warning to allies of an enemy hero's impending ambush (sometimes in conjunction with a minimap signal to identify the target).
• creep - A creep is a unit that is not controlled by a player. Killing a creep yields gold for the player that killed it. In DotA this refers to the units fighting on the two sides as well as neutral ones. Also used as a verb to refer to killing creeps.
• creep deny/exp. denial - The act of killing one's own friendly creeps who have low Hit Points, thereby denying experience and gold to enemy heroes. A similar method is used to destroy a friendly tower which is about to be demolished by the enemy.
• defend/def - Used to cue team members to defend a tower, barracks, or lane from the opposing team. Mainly used in conjunction with a signal flare to the game map.
• d/c - Abbreviation for "disconnected", used in reference to a player.
• farm - This refers to the strategy of exclusively killing creeps in order to purchase better weapons and gain experience faster. More specifically, farming in the absence of enemy heroes.
• gangbang (gb)/rape - the act of multiple heroes converging on one hero to kill that hero. It is common slang for an 'orgy'
• gank - When a hero is gangbanged from several sides. Either a portmanteau of "gangbang" and "flank" or originating from the term "gang kill".
• (hero name/color) missing - informing friendly heroes that the particular enemy hero has abandoned his lane in an attempt to ambush and kill heroes in another lane, generally by hiding in the woods for extended periods of time.
• Missing in Action (MIA) - The acronym "mia" is also used to warn teammates of a missing enemy hero.
• out - Usually said after a push by multiple heroes. Used mainly to denote that the player is going back to the fountain area.
• pawn/pwn - Generally means 'to kill an enemy hero', usually with the intended meaning that the hero making the kill did a spectacular job in comparison with his or her adversary. Pwn originated from a misspelling of "own", which has a similar meaning in gamer jargon, resulted from the closeness of the P and O keys on a Qwerty keyboard.
• pump/pumping - Refer to first term of stacking.
• push - Pushing is the main objective of DotA. It is accomplished by staying in a lane and advancing on enemy towers to destroy them, literally "pushing" the lines of battle further and further towards the enemy's base.
• rax/racks/barracks - Used to cue teammates to destroy the enemy's barracks building, positioned in the enemy base. Also used (sometimes) to cue destruction of enemy buildings in general; usually accompanied by a map signal to indicate its position. Note: destruction of enemy Barracks will upgrade the team's creep damage and hit points.
• rambo/ramboing - Derived from Sylvester Stallone's portrayal of the "John Rambo" character from his popular movie series. This refers to an aggressive and risky attempt to kill an enemy hero or in some cases a structure in a situation where you clearly do not have the advantage.
• rambo hero - These are heroes who are better suited to the act of "ramboing". eg. Bloodseeker, Nightstalker, Juggernaut.
• rosh - Used to cue teammates to together destroy the strongest neutral creep on the map , Roshan. Usually used in the late game when heroes are powerful enough to do so.
• team sell - A controversial strategy used to deal with a leaver (person who leaves prior to the end)'s items. All items from the leaver's hero are sold at half price, with the gold distributed evenly to all his teammates. In actuality, the team loses out because only half the gold is returned. It should also be noted that since all players on the leaving hero's side gain control of the leaving hero, arguments often arise as people selfishly struggle for control of the leaver's strongest pieces of equipment, although all the equipment stay in the team.
• stacking - can refer to one of two terms:
  • The act of pooling items to a certain hero that can make it particularly more powerful than others. Most notorious stackable characters are Naix, Phantom Assassin, Sven, Magina and others that once get certain items, are almost unbeatable. TDA Rules are against this act due to imbalance issues it brings.
  • Stacking also refers to the act of combining multiple Auras, i.e. "Aura-stacking" (Aura examples: Vampiric, Command, Brilliance, Fervor, Protection, Moonbeam etc). This usage of the term is more common among Warcraft III players, as most of the auras are also found in that game.
• TP - Short for "teleport", a spell used to instantly teleport to a friendly building or creep (e.g. by activation of Scroll of Town Portal, usage of Furion's ability, or by Boots of Travel. TP is also used to signal Chen, a Sentinel hero, to use the Teleport ability, sending a friendly player back to the team's fountain area.
• ult/ulti - Abbreviation for the word "ultimate." Instructs another player to utilize his ultimate spell.
• w/zap/wrath/zeus - Some players, when using Zeus (Sentinel) hero, instruct their teammates to type a phrase or ping in a specific place (such as their fountain) when his ultimate is needed for a kill. These are all examples, although there is no single generic term.

Verbal Acknowledgments

One feature Defense of the Ancients: Allstars (like many other custom maps) has is the use of map sounds and verbal acknowledgments. Those in Allstars are derived from Unreal Tournament, which are played once a player manages to kill 3 or more enemy heroes without being killed himself. These were first imported into the game by Guinsoo to add more excitement into the hero killing aspect of Allstars.

Note that the BlizzCon DotA tournaments used a special edition of the map where there are no acknowledgements. This was done to avoid copyright issues due to the acknowledgements, with the exception of "Fresh Meat", being the property of Epic Games. The special edition was made by IceFrog at Blizzard's request.

For consecutive kills

In DotA AllStars, when a player is able to execute 3 or more consecutive kills on an enemy without dying in the process, all players will receive a verbal acknowledgment as credit for performing this feat. Bonus gold will also be provided to an enemy hero who can stop this killing streak. They are:

• 3 - [Name of Player] is on a Killing Spree (50 bonus gold)
• 4 - [Name of Player] is Dominating (100 bonus)
• 5 - [Name of Player] has a Mega-Kill (150 bonus)
• 6 - [Name of Player] is Unstoppable (200 bonus)
• 7 - [Name of Player] is Wicked Sick (250 bonus)
• 8 - [Name of Player] has a M-m-m-m....Monster Kill (300 bonus)
• 9 - [Name of Player] is Godlike (350 bonus)
• 10+ - [Name of Player] is Beyond Godlike (Somebody kill him!) (400 bonus)
  • The displayed text is Beyond Godlike, whereas the game's voice actually says "Holy Shit!".

For special events

These two sounds are version-dependent:

• First blood - in Allstars version 6 and above only: when a player's hero executes the 1st hero kill of the game, he/she will get extra 200 gold and also the "First blood" verbal acknowledgment.
• Combo whore - in Allstars versions before 6 only: when two or more players combined their abilities to kill a single hero the sound "Combo whore" is verbalized.

Other sounds common to all AllStars versions include:

• Double kill - kill 2 Heroes within a short amount of time (11.5 seconds).
• Triple kill - kill 3 Heroes within a short amount of time (11.5 seconds)
• Ultrakill - kill 4 Heroes within a short amount of time (11.5 seconds)
• Rampage - kill 5 Heroes within a short amount of time (11.5 seconds)
• Ownage - when a team gets 5 or more Hero kills in a row without any hero deaths on their side.
• Ahh...Fresh Meat - a sound byte activated when the Scourge hero Pudge activates his Ultimate spell "Dismember". This may be familiar to players of Diablo, another game by Blizzard Entertainment, in which a boss called "The Butcher" utters those same words. This sound byte is hardcoded into the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne World Map Editor.
• Good night! - a sound clip played when the Sentinel hero Squee, Spleen and Spoon (Goblin Techies) achieves a kill with the Remote Mines ability. This sound is played in Warcraft III when the Goblin Sapper unit is given an attack order.

Allusions

These are allusions present in the Warcraft III custom map Defense of the Ancients: Allstars variant.

Items

• Aegis of the Immortal - A shield carried by Athena, for Zeus the Greek god. Dropped by Roshan.
• Aghanim's Scepter - Refers to Agahnim, the final boss in some of the Zelda games.
• Armlet of Mordiggian - Mordiggian is a fictional character in the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Black King Bar - Reference to a weapon in Phantasy Star Online.
• Buriza do Kyanon - is a unique crossbow from Diablo II.
• Cranium Basher - Cranium Basher is a maul from Diablo. It's also in Diablo II.
• Dagon - A Semitic God.
• Eaglehorn - is a bow from Diablo II, originally from Diablo.
• Eul's Scepter of Divinity - A tribute to the creator of the original Defense of the Ancients, which included an item of the same name.
• Eye of Skadi - Skadi is the wife of the Van god Njord in Norse mythology. She was the Goddess of winter, and as a tribute to her the item causes a hero's attack to deal frost damage, slowing opponents.
• Guinsoo's Scythe of Vyse - A tribute to the Guinsoo an editor of Defense of the Ancients: Allstars.
• Hands of Midas - Midas is a character in Greek mythology who turned everything he touched into gold. In Allstars, this item kills and turns an enemy creep into gold.
• Heart of Tarrasque - A nearly immortal creature from Dungeons & Dragons, also mythical creature resembling a dragon, lion and scorpion. Also a small boss from Starcraft, another Blizzard game.
• Khadgar's Pipe of Insight - Named after the Warcraft III item of the same name.
• Lothar's Edge - A tribute to Sir Anduin Lothar, the Champion of Azeroth, during the First War (in Warcraft and Warcraft II.)
• Messerschmidt's Reaver - Messerschmidt's Reaver is an axe from Diablo II, originally from Diablo.
• Monkey King Bar - From the Chinese folk tale Journey to the West, the Monkey King Bar was a staff used by the hero Sun Wukong and could alter its size to his will; the same bar used by the character Son Goku in the Dragon Ball series. The weapon also appears in Phantasy Star Online and may also be another reference to that game.
• Nathrezim Buckler - The Nathrezim or Dreadlords are a race in the Warcraft universe of games.
• Necronomicon - A fictional book invented by the early pulp fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft. Also the strongest book wielded by Cecilia in the RPG Wild Arms. A book bearing this title also appeared in the movie Army of Darkness.
• Poor Man's Shield - Refers to poor man's copyright.
• Sange - A sword from the game Phantasy Star Online.
• Sange and Yasha - In Phantasy Star Online The Sange and Yasha could be combined to form a formidable dual sword weapon, and thus the same is allowed here.
• Shiva's Guard - Refers to the Hindu deity.
• Stygian Desolator - A weapon from the game Anarchy Online. The name is derived from the river that flows in the Greek underworld, the River Styx (Stygian, meaning to have the properties of Styx). This is however counterintuitive, because the waters of the River Styx was supposed to confer immortality to those who touched it. Achilles was said to have been dipped in the waters of the Styx as a baby.
•  [Talisman of Evasion] - An item from the games Warcraft III and World of Warcraft.
• Yasha - A type of demon in Indian mythology. Also refers to another sword from the game Phantasy Star Online.

Heroes

Note: This section only explains the possible allusions that exist in the DotA Allstars heroes and is not meant to be a hero guide/description/spell guide.

• Abaddon, Lord of Avernus - Avernus is Latin for "void" or "abyss". Abaddon (Hebrew for "destruction") is the name of the fallen angel of the abyss from the Book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible. Is also a powerful character in the miniature wargame Warhammer 40,000.
• Aggron Stonebreaker, Ogre Magi - It's name is the name of a pokemon.
• Akasha, Queen of Pain - One of the five elements of Hinduism. Also the name of the Queen of the Damned from a book by Anne Rice. Literally speaking in Hindi, it means "sky."
• Alleria, Windrunner - An elven hero in Warcraft_II:_Beyond_the_Dark_Portal
• Anub'arak, Nerubian Assassin - The undead Nerubian crypt lord in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
• Rattrap, Clockwerk Goblin - One of the Maximals on Transformers: The Beast Wars. His beast form was that of a rat.
• Atropos, Bane Elemental - One of the three fates in Greek mythology, who literally "cut the thread of life" according to legend. Also, all of his abilities are named after spells of the elemental type "bane" from Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis and Atropos was the ultimate sword attack from the game.
• Azgalor, Pit Lord - Pit lord found in Battle of Mount Hyjal.
• Azwraith, Phantom Lancer - Uses a character model/icon based on a Final Fantasy character, Kimahri.
• Banehallow, Lycanthrope - Refers to lycanthropy, the ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a wolf.
• Barathrum, Spiritbreaker - The name Barathrum is the word for "underworld" in Latin.
• Black Arachnia, Broodmother - The name, "Black Arachnia" is a character in the TV series Beast Wars. In the show, Black Arachnia is a female spider/robot for the Predacons faction.
• Bradwarden, Centaur Warchief - Centaur character from R.A. Salvatore's book The Demon Awakens.
• Cairne Bloodhoof, Tauren Chieftain - Grand Chief of the united tribes of the tauren, chieftain of the Bloodhoof, and leader of Thunder Bluff.
• Furion, Prophet - The leader of the Night Elves, with his command of nature, in Warcraft III.
• Daelin Proudmoore, Admiral - Admiral of the naval forces of the Alliance during the Second War.
• Ignis Fatuus - Keeper of the Light's ultimate skill, which is a phenomenal occurrence in marshlands creating a pale light, similar to Will 'o the Wisp.
• Jakiro, Twin-Headed Dragon - Background story based on Níðhöggr, a dragon that gnawed at a World Tree.
• Jin'zakk, Batrider - Named after the Forest troll Warlord of the same name.
• Kael, Invoker - Possibly named after Kael'thas Sunstrider.
• Kel'Thuzad, Lich - The Lich King's disciple in the original Warcraft III.
• King Leoric, Skeleton King - his name comes from a character in Diablo whose son was possessed by the demon.
• Krobelus, Death Prophet - A character (missionary role) in the game Summoner 2.
• Leshrac the Malicious, Tormented Soul - A character from Magic: The Gathering.
• Leviathan, Tidehunter - Strength hero that looks like a sea giant. His name comes from a Biblical sea creature. His name can also be from a unique armor in Diablo II, "The Leviathan" Kraken Shell. One of his skills is called Kraken Shell.
• Lina Inverse, Slayer - Powerful spellcaster, whose name and spells originate from Slayers, a famous manga and anime.
• Lucifer, Doom Bringer - A Doom Guard, referring to the fallen archangel (the Devil) in Christian tradition. (Also from Heroes Might and Magic Series).
• Magnus, Magnataur - A reference to German physicist Heinrich Magnus who described a physical phenomenon called the Magnus effect, that is apt because of Magnus' (the Magnataur's) ultimate Reverse Polarity acting like the Magnus effect.
• Medusa, Gorgon - A monster in Greek mythology whose gaze turned people to stone. This is represented in-game using the skills Purge and Gaze (certain versions only) which greatly slows enemies, however does not turn them into stone.
• Meepo, Geomancer - A kobold character from Dungeons and Dragons.
• Mercurial, Spectre - Having the characteristics of eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, and thievishness attributed to the god Mercury. Also this is the name of the artist of the loading screen for version 6.28 and beyond.
• Mogul Kahn, Axe - The name Mogul refers to a dynasty of Farsi-Mongolians that once controlled the area that is now Afghanistan, Balochistan, and the Indian subcontinent (e.g. Babur, Akbar), while Kahn is a misspelling of "Khan", which means commander, leader or ruler in Persian.
• Morphling, Morphling - A shapeshifter from Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering, which is also adept at switching stats.
• Mortred, Phantom Assassin - Her name possibly derives from the name Mordred. In the legend of King Arthur, Mordred is a traitor that severely wounds King Arthur. This has a hint of similarity to Mortred's story text in the DotA game, which appears as a tooltip during hero selection. Name could also allude to the word mortify, meaning to destroy the strength, vitality, or functioning of. Mortred also helped to test the map when Euls still made it.
• Nevermore, Shadow Fiend- Name is based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven".
• Nortrom, Silencer - His name could have been derived from Nordom, a character in Planescape Torment. This could also possibly be derived from the company Norton, as they are a company developing anti-virus software and Nortrom is an anti-magic hero.
• Puck, Faerie Dragon - Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream featured a faerie named Puck.
• Pudge, Butcher - Named after The Butcher in the game Diablo. When he uses his ultimate spell, he uses a phrase from The Butcher as well.
• Raigor Stonehoof, Earthshaker - Earthshaker is an item from Diablo 2, which can proc fissure, one of Raigor's spells.
• Rexxar, Beastmaster - The well known half-ogre that helped in the foundation of Durotar in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.
• Rhasta, Shadow Shaman - The name is derived from a specific religious group, "Rhastafari," in Jamaica which is where Rhasta's and all the trolls accent places them.
• Rikimaru, Stealth Assassin - A stealth ninja in the game Tenchu: The Stealth Assassins.
• Shendelzare Silkwood, Vengeful Spirit - Her Magic Missile spell derives from the name of a spell in Dungeons and Dragons.
• Slithice, Naga Siren - Derived from Greek Mythology, where sirens (half woman half sea creatures) were enticing men on ships to their island. In the game, her ultimate spell (Song of the Siren) causes all enemies in the surrounding area to sleep for a short period of time.
• Squee, Goblin Techies - Character from Magic: The Gathering; a goblin from the Weatherlight saga.
• Sven, Rogue Knight - Comes from the Swedish Body Builder infamous for using the line "I want to pump *clap* you up!". Alluded to the captions under his ability Toughness Aura and ultimate ability God's Strength.
• Syllabear, Lone Druid - Syllabear is named after Syl-la-ble from Clan TDA who worked with Guinsoo in the development of DotA Allstars. Before leaving, he created this hero as to leave his mark in DotA.
• Tiny, Stone Giant - A sarcastic name by the fact that his last ability is grow to an enormous and powerful mountain Giant.
• Ulfsaar, Ursa Warrior - A Furbolg warrior whose name may spring from the Norse Ulfsark, a warrior in times of need (alluding to his character description) that wore animal skins as a tactic to scare enemies; and similar to Ulfsarks were Berserkers, meaning "Bear strength."
• Venomancer - Uses a model of a character in Starcraft, the Zerg Hydralisk. This model is included in the Warcraft III data files as an easter egg.
• Vol'Jin - A former houngan or famous troll witch doctor of the Darkspear Tribe from Warcraft III and World of Warcraft.
• Yurnero, Juggernaut) - An Orc Blademaster who's ultimate ability, Omnislash, is the derivative of Cloud Strife's omnislash from Final Fantasy. Comes from the Hindi Jagann*th, literally, lord of the world, title of Vishnu, and also defined as a massive inexorable force that crushes all in its path.
• Zeus, Lord of Olympia - Leader of the gods in Greek mythology. Zeus was the god of lightning, and in DotA Allstars the Zeus hero specializes in lightning-based spells.

Different flavors of DotA

DotA Classic

This series is the original DotA, which began with Eul, the creator and first editor. This RoC map is considered by some DotA players to be the most balanced and best map series for DotA. Eul, the original editor and creator of DotA, has since declared his map to be open-source, and currently there is no official editor for the RoC DotA maps.

However, there are still unofficial editors whose maps are hosted frequently. The most notable current editors are Quantum.dx (3.6d, as well as 3.95C and 4.0 for TFT), Fluffy_Bunny (3.7, 3.8x, and 3.9x series), Ryude (3.7x series), and Danite's (Rumble 3.x series, Danites Hell and Multimode 4.0). DotA Classic for RoC has clans that continue to play against each other and also hold tournaments.

The most popular version on most servers is 3.7 (created by Fluffy_Bunny), while 3.6d is still played in Asia. The 3.7x, 3.8x, and Rumble series are all played in decent numbers in public games.

CHAOS

CHAOS is a Korean-language port of DotA, and is not popular outside of Asia, though it enjoys cult-like popularity there.

Allstars

Development

Currently, in most versions of Allstars, the map contains many more heroes and items than does the original DotA and is updated frequently, which may explain its ongoing popularity. However, this popularity sparked a controversy over who ought to be credited for its fame. For instance, a number of Classic players resent Guinsoo for having "stolen" their game, especially since he is alleged to have similarly "borrowed" most of his triggers, spells, heroes, and items from other people; Guinsoo, for his part, maintains that the map was created from scratch (besides the map layout) and based only spiritually on Eul's work. Regardless, Allstars remains widely played on The Frozen Throne and is the most popular Warcraft III custom map.

Bugs in version 5 of AllStars prompted many to offer fixes to Guinsoo, but the development of the code was opaque and release schedules were discretionary. As such, the map forked in version 5.84b. Guinsoo joined the mass movement to the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft and IceFrog has taken over as head of project since version 6.

Current player trends

Currently, players have shown increasing interest in the 6.xx versions as with each consecutive version, more bugs are fixed and the map is believed to be more stable and balanced. Version 6.30, the most current official version, is the most frequently played on Battle.net and LAN parties. It has been noted that only the Malaysians and the Turkish still frequently play 5.84c on the Battle.net servers. Many of the Turkish people prefer to stick to the 5.84c version due to the great changes of the map , the new balance of the heroes and the new items. The omni-present mode is the -allrandom (-ar)mode.

Currently, DotA Allstars is popular among many players around the world, as observed on the Battle.net servers and the PvPGN network of private servers. Players of DotA Allstars, particularly in the Asian region, sometimes go to cybercafés for friendly matches and cash tournaments.

DotA Allstars was also featured in the Malaysian and Singaporean World Cyber Games 2005.

Outland

DotA Outland is another Frozen Throne variant of DotA, mostly maintained by Softmints and JackOfBlades, but now work has passed onto emjlr3 for the time being, who is very experienced with JASS, and will be able to bring a new dimension of hero making to Outland. It is less well-known than Allstars, but updated far more frequently. It is more hero-based than item-based, a slightly slower-paced game than Allstars, and the heroes are entirely different. Development has re-started after much time was taken in fixing the lag spikes created in 4.4b. The next version will be released very soon.

Comparing Outland to other Aeon of Strife maps

• Compared to DotA Classic: It's a more hero-based Aeon of Strife, with less emphasis on buildings and upgrades, and a faster game.
• Compared to Allstars: Less emphasis on crushing the opponents with powerful items; though victory through powerful item builds is still very possible.
• Compared to Tides of Blood: More heroes and less emphasis on buildings.

Unique characteristics of DotA Outland

Some information partially adapted from the DotA Outland page (as written by the Outland creator).

• Items are far less powerful and more character-specific. (e.g. don't use a Lothar's Annihalator with a hero like Iviyst or Lividus.)
• Recipes located outside the entrance of the fountain, three books on pedestals. Level 3 items aren't imbalanced, considering generally high gold costs and only moderately strong bonuses.
• The "Challenge" aspect (see below).
• Usage of Waygates for teleportation.
• Switches control the ability to raise/lower the bridges, which change the possible escape routes and pathways.
• The amount of items a hero carries decides the gold bounty gained for killing him. For example, if a hero was carrying 6000 gold worth of items, 600 would be added to his bounty, because he was harder to kill.
• Destroying enemy towers gives Energy which can be used to upgrade friendly towers or troops. Energy is also gotton from hero kills or can be traded for gold at one of the shops, and is also used for upgrading items.
• A reputation for some unique and original heroes with varied skills, rather than the more monotonus other versions. (Little is known about Dota CHAOS in this reigon)

Challenges

Challenges, much like the Rune powerups in Allstars, are an interesting aspect of Outland. A player picks up a rune, and is then given a challenge to complete. If the player succeeds, he/she gains 750 gold; failure will cause the loss of a level, which is more significant in Outland than other versions. This puts pressure on the player to complete the objectives.

The current Challenges are:

• Slaughter - A hero on the enemy team is singled out, and must be killed within 3 minutes.
• Survival - Survive for 3 minutes, with a 1000 gold bounty on your head, you are enemies to both your creeps and towers, and their creeps - no hiding in your base. Your location is pinged for all players every second.

Only one challenge of each type can be active at any one time, but two challenges can be held at the same time by a single player.

Heroes

The hero variants of Outland differ from other versions in many ways. Firstly, experience gain is slower at the start of a game, and items take priority. Secondly, the heroes are much more functional towards their purpose, for example, the Red Stain is an excellent "hero-killer", yet its "pushing" (See Lingo below) skills are weak, unless its entire item build (order and selection of items) is focused upon it, causing it to become only moderate at both.

Hero killing is also a harder task to perform, as heroes are generally more resilient, and all heroes have access to an "escape move" (ability which aids in escaping from a hero trying to kill another hero). There are many "special" hero types in play from other heroes, most notably the "Shadowdancer" whose movement style is based on "blinking" (short distance teleportation) and Focus Monk, which needs to go into a "Trance" every 60 seconds to replenish his energies. This takes 5 seconds to activate, and his skills gain bonuses upon activation of this skill. Heroes with these abilities are designated by red text displaying the abilities when selecting the hero.

Trivia

• A song by the swedish musician Basshunter titled "Vi sitter här i venten och spelar lite DotA" or simply "DotA" internationally was a major reference to this mod. The original song featured sound samples and gameplay footage from the "Defense of the Ancients" addon featured in the early video release of the DotA song as well as in the more mainstream video of the same song although to a lesser degree. This song has also been released with alternative lyrics called "All I Ever Wanted", which contains no obvious references to the game.

External links

Official

• PlayDotA playdota.com, 2009-2016 (archive index)
• Dota-Allstars dota-allstars.com, 2004-2009 (archive index)
• DotA GetDota.com - Download area

Communities

• DotA Allstars Portal
• DotA中文网 - A Chinese-language site and its DotA forum (中文网论坛)
• DotA Greek Community - A Greek community for DotA games. An online Greek database of leavers for Northrend is included.
• DotA-Inside.net - A German (& English) community-site for DotA Allstars with downloads, infos about the heroes and items (with item search-function).
• DotaPick.Ru - A Russian community-site for DotA Allstars with downloads, infos about the heroes and items.
• DotaPro.com - US English The only DotA Allstars site with true replay integration.
• Magyar DotA Portál - A Hungarian DotA Allstars community site: Heroes, Items, Forums, Strategy.
• Mystic Shrine - Home of the Australian DotA Allstars community site: Heroes, Items, Forums, Strategy.
• Indo DotA - An Indonesian DotA Allstars community site: Heroes, Items, Forums, Strategy.

Download and Resources sites

• Battle.net Map Vault Hall of Fame - DotA Allstars entry as the first SpotLight Map (note: the map for download on this link may not be the most current one)
• DotA Allstars Resources - DotaAS.com is the Ultimate Resources to your DotA AllStars gaming, item/recipe guide, map downloads(ai,official) and much more.
• DotA Allstars 6.27b and 6.25AI Download Mirror - Versions with AI heroes enabled, for practice and training purposes.
• Eul's original DotA Download Site - the inspiration for the current DotA Allstars.
• EpicWar.com - The definitive repository for all Warcraft III custom maps.

Fan-created DotA Multiplayer Servers

• TriniGamers - The Caribbean's largest game server, always active. Host to DotA Leagues and Tournaments. Located in St. Augustine, Trinidad.
• WBnet PvPGN Server - an Allstars PvPGN Server.
• PogzNet PvPGN Server - Philippine-based PvPGN server for Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo II.
• Bored Aussie - a PvPGN server hosting regular 3c & DotA tournaments. Located in Melbourne, Australia.

Helper Utilities for DotA/Warcraft

• The Warcraft 3 Banlist program - to check and ban leavers in Warcraft 3/DotA games. An online database of leavers, lamers, and other unwanted players is located at http://www.banlist.nl

Fans' Resources

• "What I Think of Leavers" - Fan-made Flash movie about DotA Allstars ethics.
• Fan-made DotA theme song - high-quality version and the lower-quality version.