.: Hero of the Day - Kael the Invoker

"Child's play." - Kael

I'm a fan of this tough guy. He's just too talented he can beat the crap out of any hero in the hands of a skilled player. Am I referring to you? Anyway, he's an INT ranged hero with THESE skills:

Cold Snap | Ghost Walk | Tornado | EMP | Alacrity | Chaos Meteor | Sun Strike | Forge Spirits | Ice Wall | Deafening Blast

Tips and Tricks:
- Rule no. 1: Memorize the hotkeys! (E Q W)
- Basic orb rule: "Three-of-a-kind".

- As of 6.72, casting orbs (Quas, Wex, Exort) NO LONGER interrupts Invoker. Thus, no need to shift-cast orbs.

- As of 6.71, Cold Snap NO LONGER triggers self-damage (eg. Pudge's Rot)
- Cold Snap is TRIGGERED by Orb of Venom! (460 gold = Stun and Slow per sec)
- Try to cast Cold Snap AFTER your attack animation and the projectile released to preserve the skill's duration.
- Cold Snap + Forge Spirits + Alacrity  = GG
- when using Euls on yourself, use orb shift-casting (press Shift+QQW), then V upon falling down for an instant Ghost Walk.
- Tornadoed units are affected by  EMP's hp and mana loss. You don't die from hp removal but cyclone's drop dmg. This is not true with Chaos Meteor.
- Cast Ice Wall vertical/parallel to the enemy for maximum efficiency.
- Cast Ice Wall behind an enemy tower while your team destroys it.
- Tornado  + Chaos Meteor + Deafening Blast  = GG
- When being chased, use Chaos Meteor in front of you to burn down those who dare to follow.
- Ice Wall + Forge Spirits + Chaos Meteor = GG
- Best time to cast Chaos Meteor is while the enemy is about to "last hit" your creeps.
- Basic Sun Strike rule: "One target at a time".
- Use Forge Spirits to scout map for runes, ganks or farming enemies. Shift-click on minimap for waypoints.
- Use Forge Spirits to creep-block an escaping enemy.
- Deafening Blast can cause ear infection...
- Blink Dagger is your best buddy.
- Eul's Scepter is your  best man.
- Find Keiser in youtube.
- ... (to be continued)

.: Strategy of the Day - Juking

Yeah right, basic juking. But still, some people don't actually know how to do it.

Juking- is a maneuver which is also considered an art of dota designed to decieve opponents by using the terrain, fog characteristics, items at hand, as well as skills left and use it as an advantage not only to escape but to do counter attack. In short, the art of deception.

Here's an almost perfect example.

DotA Juke Spots/Paths:

.: Joke of the Day - The Legendary Invoker Flowchart

The funny thing is - it's accurately correct.

.: Pic of the Day - Invoker's Epic Smile

by ~soadpedro

Source deviantart.com

Welcome to DotA Tricks and Tips (DotA TRiPS)

First of all, NO, this is not a copycat version of the official DotA website. The cartoon DotA loadscreen was just too cute to handle.

        Anyway, *clears throat* WELCOME to My BLOG. Here, I'll be posting tips and tricks you probably don't know yet about your favorite hero or item as well as other useful game strategies. I'll make sure the tips are short but useful and I'm not gonna explain the basics of a skill or item appearing herein 'cause I'm assuming you're not a noob in DotA. I will also post jokes, pics and other entertaining DotA materials here for you to enjoy. So, I hope you'll find this blog useful. And if you do, be a follower (not my stalker for Christ's sake). Enjoy the DotA TRIP. Ciao. 

- PLaGuE

P.S. I know it's supposed to be "Tips and Tricks", but what the hell? The blog title will become "tipricks" or "tipstricks" or "ticks". Also, I'm the one who made the banner above and admit it, it looks good right? :D

        Also, kudos to the original creator of the cartoon loadscreen. (I can't seem to find the real one right now.)

.: Hero of the Day - Alleria the Windrunner

She's one hot Sentinel hero isn't she? Anyway, she's a ranged INT hero with the following skills:

Shackleshot | Powershot | Windrunner | Focus Fire

Useful Tricks and Tips:

- Shackleshot the ranged creep (the mage guy) while the enemy is behind it (eg. Ranged) to easily initiate a hero kill from a distance.

- Shackleshot can disable two enemies (double shackles) if properly done. Make them chase you to create this scenario. 

- Shackleshot is not cancelled if the shackled target becomes invisible. It can also shackle targets behind fog.

- Shackleshot still causes a mini-stun (0.75s) even when there's no tree/creep/hero behind the target. Use it to cancel chanelling spells (Epicenter) or prevent enemies from escaping (Town Portal).

- Powershot channels for 1 sec to deal FULL dmg. Otherwise, it will deal MUCH less dmg. Do this to instantly finish off fleeing enemies with critically low HPs.

- Powershot can destroy trees. Use it to make paths for ganks or escapes or fog scouting (Rosh check).

- Powershot damage is reduced for each target hit. So, to deal full dmg on an enemy hero make sure the arrow path is clear from enemy creeps. Perfect for harassing.
- Powershot has a very low cooldown (9s). Use it to initiate and end a gank. Spammable as well.

- Powershot can hit invisible enemy units (imagine Lanaya or Sandking). Remember to channel.

- Powershot has a very long range (1700). Use it to snipe from distant cliffs or farm 2 creep camps at once.

- Windrunner cannot evade projectiles released before it's activated. So time it properly.

- Windrunner can tank DPS heroes. But be careful of MKB carriers. (cannot evade)

- Bonus MS from Windrunner and Phase boots don't stack. So avoid using them at the same time.

- Focus Fire can target buildings. Incidentally, Desolator now affects buildings (6.72)

- Focus Fire can target magic immune units. So don't be scared of heroes on BKB steroids.

- Be scared of Blademail and Centaur's Return. They hurt like hell with Focus Fire.
- Focus Fire lasts 20s and is NOT a channeling spell. You may move and use skills but don't attack anything else.
- Damages from other active skills during Focus Fire are also reduced (Dagon, Powershot).

- Focus Fire's mana cost (400) is the same even with Aghanim's Scepter (reduced cd: 15secs). So don't buy it early game when you don't have enough mana pool to cast it every 15 secs and an orb effect to work with.

- Aghanim's Scepter REDUCES your lifesteal when using Focus Fire (50/40/30%).
- Activating Satanic CANCELS  Focus Fire.

*I'll just update this for other tips I'll remember. 

.: Joke of the Day - "Alleria's Orb Dilemma"

- From playdota.com's comment sections ( . )( . )

.: Pic of the day - "Pigs of the Day"