Dota 2 facts for kids

Dota 2 is a popular online video game that came out in 2013. It's the follow-up to a game called Defense of the Ancients. The first Dota was actually a special map, or "mod," made by players for another game called Warcraft: The Frozen Throne. This mod became super popular, with over 5 million people playing it!

As Warcraft: The Frozen Throne got older, it became tricky to keep updating the Dota map. So, a company called Valve Corporation, with help from the original creator (known as Icefrog), decided to make Dota 2.

How to Play Dota 2

Dota 2 is a strategy game that can be tough to learn but very rewarding to master. You pick one of 115 unique heroes to play. Then, you join one of two teams, each with five players. One team is called the Radiant (they look green), and the other is the Dire (they look red).

The game map has three main paths, or "lanes": top, middle, and bottom. Usually, teams spread out with two heroes in the top lane, one in the middle, and two in the bottom lane. Sometimes, a player might choose to be a "roamer." A roamer travels around the map, helping out teammates wherever they are needed.

Creeps and Towers

Throughout the game, computer-controlled characters called "creeps" (or "minions") appear on both sides. These creeps march down the lanes and attack enemy creeps, heroes, or towers. When your hero defeats an enemy creep, you earn gold, which is very important for winning the game.

In each lane, there are three defensive structures called "towers." They are numbered by how close they are to the enemy base: Tier 1 is the closest, and Tier 3 is the farthest. You must destroy all the towers in a lane before you can attack the "barracks." The barracks are located behind the Tier 3 towers.

If you destroy an enemy's "Ranged Barracks" or "Melee Barracks," your team's creeps in that lane become much stronger. If your team manages to destroy all six barracks on the enemy side, your creeps get a huge power boost and become "Mega Creeps." Mega Creeps are so strong that a whole wave of them can be as powerful as a hero! Having Mega Creeps makes it much easier to win the game.

Winning the Game

The main goal of Dota 2 is to destroy the enemy's "Ancient," which is their main base, while protecting your own. Because the map is large and many things can happen, games often last between 30 to 50 minutes. Some intense games can even go on for two hours!

If you leave a game before it ends, you might get a penalty. For your next 1 to 5 games, you might be put into "Low Priority." In Low Priority, players can only pick from a small group of three heroes. Also, players in Low Priority cannot play with "High Priority" players.

Game Features

Dota 2 has two teams of five heroes each. Players can choose from 115 different heroes. To win, players must destroy the enemy's towers and eventually their Ancient. As you play, you earn gold, buy powerful items, and work with your team to get kills and assists.

You can also play special "custom games" that are made by other players. These are found through the Steam Workshop. Dota 2 is known for being complex and requiring a lot of teamwork. Some professional players have earned millions of dollars playing this game in big tournaments. The most famous tournament is called The International, which has the biggest prize pool in video game history, reaching over 13 million U.S. dollars!

Images for kids

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  A game of Dota 2 in progress, showing the Radiant team inside their base at the beginning of a match

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  Defense of the Ancients, the original mod from Warcraft III that Dota 2 was based on

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  Gamescom 2011 in Cologne, where the game was first made playable to the public

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  The largest Dota 2 tournaments often have prize pools totaling millions of dollars. Shown here is The International 2018, a $25 million tournament hosted at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

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  A fan cosplaying as Juggernaut, one of the game's 123 playable characters

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  The Aegis of Champions, awarded to International winners

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  Physical props, based on items from the game, being sold as merchandise at The International 2012

See also

In Spanish: Dota 2 para niños