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Post by Hogfather @ 11:25am 04/01/13 | 57 Comments
Looks like the very quietly-announced Australia region for Dota 2 may have gone live today, judging from this update on the Steam site for Dota 2:
MISC
- Added Australia server region.
Good news for DOTA2 players if so ... bad news if you, err, umm, blame lag a lot ;) For those not working today, can anyone give feedback on local pings?

promoted/edited forum item



dota 2serveraustralia
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Latest Comments
Hogfather
Posted 11:43am 04/1/13
fRdy2.png

"Wow... I really thought I was fine and could live with it before, but just wow, my hero actually moves the instant I click."

"30-50ping on aus server i love you valve!"

Woo! ( from /r/dota2)
trog
Posted 11:45am 04/1/13
dota-aus.jpg

edit: damn, Hoggy beat me.

It's really irritating to me that this is something that we need to get excited about, especially for a Valve game :( If it had open servers we wouldn't have been stuck in this situation for ages (...like I really care, I still barely have any idea what I'm doing in the game!@#)
Hogfather
Posted 11:48am 04/1/13
Its a great day! And yeh, echoing your thoughts on dedicated servers trog :(

We might have a chance of pulling off s*** like this now:



HAHAH WHO AM I KIDDING this guy is a God and I am a worm :(
carson
Posted 11:50am 04/1/13
Well now I need to make some australian dota friends to play with. Anyway wanting to play can hit me up. My steam id is carsonpants.
DeadlyDav0
Posted 11:52am 04/1/13
Woot. Finally.

Add me: deadly_dav0

ive already added a few of you guys before.
Eorl
Posted 11:56am 04/1/13
Now all I need is Riot to bring out Australian servers and I'll be happy. Only then will I have DOTA 2, HoN and LoL Australian servers to play on. Also ID is froodleme most likely, that or Eorl.
Hogfather
Posted 11:55am 04/1/13
Also we play dota2 on my teamspeak server nightly pretty much, lately we've been getting 10 people into in house games which are awesome

starcraft.org.au, pw is starcraftauchat

Various skill levels, we're not all pro but we play a lot and have some fun in between raging :)
DeadlyDav0
Posted 11:58am 04/1/13
In game. 37ms. So good.
Justmatel
Posted 12:05pm 04/1/13
40 ms GG im in Leumeah Nsw.
Zapo
Posted 12:25pm 04/1/13
Looking forward to some low ping action when I get home!

DOTA2, aka the 'cranky game' (just ask Hog).
Mitch
Posted 12:42pm 04/1/13
realistic screeny ( stolen from twitter )

link
Justmatel
Posted 12:45pm 04/1/13
Ping is so great, First Aus server game with pudge, Hitting everything with ease!
Eorl
Posted 01:12pm 04/1/13
I haven't played DOTA 2 in some time, could someone kindly suggest an easy-to-use hero to learn while I get the grip on things and remember to deny.
Crash
Posted 01:23pm 04/1/13
I usually suggest sniper to people. He's a ranged hero that can do a lot of damage while keeping his distance. Has 2 passive abilities so its not too complicated to learn.

Also dotafire.com is your friend for hero builds and guides. Great thing is that you can use the browser in steam and have this open to refer to.

last edited by Crash at 13:23:33 04/Jan/13
Tollaz0r!
Posted 01:23pm 04/1/13
This will make last hitting that much easier! Plus some off-limit heroes will be useable now. I'm looking at you Pudge...
Hogfather
Posted 01:48pm 04/1/13
I haven't played DOTA 2 in some time, could someone kindly suggest an easy-to-use hero to learn while I get the grip on things and remember to deny.

http://www.purgegamers.com/welcome-to-dota-you-suck

I don't agree with everything in the list but it looks good and covers the basics well. Not sure about Sniper as a new player hero, he is long range and easy to cs but he's also a very fragile carry with no escape -- an early gank target on any team. Add to this that people will probably want you to mid (not the best place to learn the game, you want dire top or radiant bottom for that).

He has simple mechanics sure, but really requires lots of game awareness to play well.

Also, always carry a tp scroll after the first few minutes. Always!
trog
Posted 01:48pm 04/1/13
^^ that Dota guide is great; I wish I'd read that before I started playing.
Hogfather
Posted 01:51pm 04/1/13
Yeh its great!
Some teamfight heroes need that first major item(usually a blink dagger), so they get farm(cs) preference over gankers and supports until they get that item. If an enigma can land a 3 second Black Hole on the entire enemy team and your team is attacking them the entire time, you have a really good chance to win. Let them farm the blink dagger.

I can't tell you the number of times I've had Lina or Lion or whatever take cs from Tide while farming blink dagger. So rage-inducing..
Eorl
Posted 02:06pm 04/1/13
That is why I like soloing top, just easier to get my CS and my items so I become a better opponent. Tried a practice match before, the ping is really nice.
carson
Posted 02:13pm 04/1/13
I haven't played DOTA 2 in some time, could someone kindly suggest an easy-to-use hero to learn while I get the grip on things and remember to deny.

Viper is one of the better heroes to play at the start, but if you really want to learn to survive the best, play a support. You'll very fast learn denying, map awareness, warding, making sure your carries live and what your team is doing.

Imo the best support is Crystal Maiden. Witch Doctor, Tree, Omni are also really strong.

The problem with learning to play by yourself is that pubs are ruthless and generally call everyone s*** (even though it's same skill bracket) so feel free to hit me up Eorl (and anyone else) as I only play with a stack of 2+
reload!
Posted 02:17pm 04/1/13
I liked jungling with lycan when trying to figure out wtf was happening because you weren't worrying about last hitting. This was great until I started being matched with people that weren't tards and I found myself hamming the team up completely.

This game is great however if you enjoy being screamed at and made to feel like a piece of s***.
Hogfather
Posted 02:47pm 04/1/13
This game is great however if you enjoy being screamed at and made to feel like a piece of s***.

Friends don't let friends queue solo.
trog
Posted 02:51pm 04/1/13
I can't tell you the number of times I've had Lina or Lion or whatever take cs from Tide while farming blink dagger.
I have no idea what this means.

I just had a quick game - got smashed, fixed roster one and I got stuck as Tidehunter who I have no idea how to play.
DeadlyDav0
Posted 02:58pm 04/1/13
I can't tell you the number of times I've had Lina or Lion or whatever take cs from Tide while farming blink dagger. So rage-inducing..

Or when a f*****g support hero auto attacks or tries to last hits creeps when you're playing a carry.
reload!
Posted 02:58pm 04/1/13
here's poison in your eye! still cracks me up though.

I'm not sure if I understand how they actually do the matchmaking but I would like to see a system like in SC2 where if you are obviously s*** and keep losing then it bumps you down to the other chumps at your skill level. It always seemed to me with dota that it just looked at your level and total wins or some such and threw you in with anyone willing to f*** you up.

I think my issues stem entirely from the fact that I just sucked really really badly :(
DeadlyDav0
Posted 03:02pm 04/1/13
Yeah i dunno about the matchmaking. Some games are a total stomp, while others are close. It varies significantly. I play pretty much with all randoms.
Hogfather
Posted 03:11pm 04/1/13
Or when a f*****g support hero auto attacks or tries to last hits creeps when you're playing a carry.

Didn't you hear, carry CM is a thing now.

reload - it does (or should do) that. It's just that DOTA2 is more brutal than SC imo, and there's fewer people playing so it needs to widen the search criteria more.
I have no idea what this means.I just had a quick game - got smashed, fixed roster one and I got stuck as Tidehunter who I have no idea how to play.

Hah!

Tide is a hero who is basically a walking ultimate. Your one job is to get that Ravage off in the right place at the right time. It does good damage and has a reliable stun over a ridiculously wide area. For this reason its your job to pick team fights (initiating).

To do this well you want a Blink Dagger, otherwise you're so big and fat and slow that they see you coming a mile away and stunlock-gank you. The dagger lets you teleport INTO combat really well, so you can appear where you want to and mash that R key. Once Tide has blink its normally crazy hard for the enemy team in midgame teamfights unless they can gank him before a brawl, silence well to initiate or get BKBs (late game).

The annoying things is that after boots, its a long, long way to 2150 to buy a dagger outright, and Tide isn't the best farmer at that point. In the early part of the game, everyone is madly chasing farm for something, so supports and gankers think its a good idea to steal last hits from Tide, when that blink dagger is arguably the most important item for the team at that point.
Crash
Posted 03:11pm 04/1/13
My win/loss ratio has always been about 50%, i think the match making is fine.

https://dotabuff.com/players/8160/heroes
Tollaz0r!
Posted 03:15pm 04/1/13

Imo the best support is Crystal Maiden. Witch Doctor, Tree, Omni are also really strong.


O Keeper of the Light has got to be up there. Not only is he great support but his nickname is Gandelf ;)

I also find matchmaking to be pretty random. Some games are a total stomp one way or the other, rarely now do I get games that go down to the wire.

I love the games where it has been pretty even then one team makes an epic push into the base only to be defeated by a well timed back-door. I've been guilty of doing that a few times ;)
Hogfather
Posted 03:24pm 04/1/13
A well-played Dazzle is completely ridiculous.
Zapo
Posted 03:33pm 04/1/13
Pretty much every hero is great in certain circumstances against particular heroes and with complimentary heroes on the team. That's why picking a good team is really important. Which is why I like Random Draft above all games. There's a set group of heroes, you can counter pick the other team, but you also have to pick heroes that will work together well on your team.
Tollaz0r!
Posted 03:34pm 04/1/13
Keeper is really great early game when paired up with a mana hungry hero. I almost always max Chakra first and take a couple mana pots for my mana regen whilst letting my buddy spam skills and getting topped up with my Chakra.
Usually that totally wins the lane, if not destroys it. Also after mid-game kicks off it is pretty easy to farm up a Mek with Illuminate.

I tend to like playing Support more, as most Monkeys playing this game want the glory of the Carry they rarely think of how Support wins games not the carry..
Eorl
Posted 03:34pm 04/1/13
Been the same in LoL for the past few weeks, games are either a win or loss, with only a few that I've played that went for more than 30 minutes and were quite tight. Really just comes down to how well your team works together, and communicating.
DeadlyDav0
Posted 03:38pm 04/1/13
Played a few Aus games so far. Seems asians from SEA and invading our servers. Also, theres a large number of aus retards similar to the ones in SEA and USW. At least the lower ping means your own game can be better.
reso
Posted 03:38pm 04/1/13
Lich and Venge are decent heroes to learn with as well. Lich is a great support and even offlanes okay with Sacrifice (especially well if you ward the pull camp).
Crash
Posted 03:49pm 04/1/13
Played a few Aus games so far. Seems asians from SEA and invading our servers. Also, theres a large number of aus retards similar to the ones in SEA and USW. At least the lower ping means your own game can be better.
I hope this does not become a thing. The reason I stopped playing on SEA and went entirely US West was because its not easy to communicate when you've got people that speak different languages. In a game where team work is so important communication can be very key.
Eorl
Posted 04:07pm 04/1/13
I hope this does not become a thing. The reason I stopped playing on SEA and went entirely US West was because its not easy to communicate when you've got people that speak different languages. In a game where team work is so important communication can be very key.
I guess if it gets too bad they may implement IP restricting, with only the most dedicated SEA players using bypasses.
Hogfather
Posted 04:25pm 04/1/13
Im happy for asians to come onto the server as long as they are on the OTHER team. Russians too. Finally get to bash people with a s***** ping.
Tollaz0r!
Posted 04:36pm 04/1/13
I left the SEA server due to the spastically high rate of quiters and fail load games.

I hope that doesn't migrate to the Aus servers :/
d^
Posted 05:51pm 04/1/13
Happy for anyone to join me - baw76 on steam.
csirac
Posted 05:59pm 04/1/13
30ms *jizzed pants*
kablekill
Posted 08:59pm 04/1/13
^ loled so hard at this!
DeadlyDav0
Posted 09:08pm 04/1/13
Dude today, 2500 games played.

https://dotabuff.com/players/66489475
Obes
Posted 10:11pm 04/1/13
loving the new pings.
unclebobsticle
Posted 07:20am 05/1/13
If anyone is keen to play and does not have dota 2 yet.
I have 7 steam invites for dota 2.
Lemme know if any of you would like a copy sent via gift on steam.
boba
Posted 08:27am 05/1/13
So I've re-installed this and for some reason I can't play with bots. Is there something special I need to enable?
Eorl
Posted 09:36am 05/1/13
Just received eight invites as well over here, hit me up in a message for one.
kirkoswald
Posted 10:45am 05/1/13
aus servers you say.... Ok i think its time for me to give this game a good go.

Might be nice for downtime between sc2 :)
d^
Posted 12:14pm 05/1/13
I've got SIX steam invites for anyone interested in playing, hit me up on Steam.
Tollaz0r!
Posted 12:19pm 05/1/13
Hehe Hoggy. I haven't skipped more than a paragraph. Book 11 new author now. It picks up in speed from here on in, wooooot.
Hogfather
Posted 12:33pm 05/1/13
Hehe Hoggy. I haven't skipped more than a paragraph. Book 11 new author now. It picks up in speed from here on in, wooooot.

Wrong thread dude ;)
qmass
Posted 12:39pm 05/1/13
so you can appear where you want to and mash that R key.
fast and the furious quote about 'granny shifting' instead of shift-queuing like you should...
Hogfather
Posted 12:38pm 05/1/13
fast and the furious quote about 'granny shifting' instead of s***-queuing like you should...

Maybe my broken synapses but its faster for me to blink and ravage without holding shift.
qmass
Posted 12:42pm 05/1/13
As in the original dotes, if you hold shift then hit blink -> ravage and then release shift it will ravage as fast as (computationally?) possible... instead of whatever lag exists, even if its 30ms.
qmass
Posted 12:50pm 05/1/13
queueing is also key to juking, its how anyone is able to tango while on the move without being run down and various other shortcuts like moving as soon as you port in without cancelling your damn port and wanting to punch your monitor out the front door. (or using an ability the instant you arrive, preventing any counter from the opposition outside of almost pure luck, let alone the uncountable possibilities across all uses)
DeadlyDav0
Posted 12:58pm 05/1/13
Yeah, shift click. Important for s*** like pudge hook + ult. The number of times ive seen people get away because the pudge is too slow to ulti. It can be tough but shift click FTW. Great for TP and eating tangoes to juke as you said.
Hogfather
Posted 06:15pm 05/1/13
As in the original dotes, if you hold shift then hit blink -> ravage and then release shift it will ravage as fast as (computationally?) possible... instead of whatever lag exists, even if its 30ms.

I understand shift clicking.

Unlike Hook, Blink is very nearly instant, so unless you are queuing R in the miniscule time period after blink starts and its complete then you get no benefit for the shift-click. FOR ME, I have found that holding shift slows the key sequence, and my Ravage gets off LATER. If you are queuing blink on top of another action (like walking to a waypoint) then that's a little different, but I prefer not to queue initiates as I like to time them at the last moment in case people move etc.

I'm gradually approaching 40 and I my brain is a little rotten so its quite possible, even likely, that you can click faster than I can and can shave a few ms off a Blink+Ravage combo by queuing. FOR ME holding shift while activating 2 keys on my left hand makes the sequence slower and more awkward, so I don't PERSONALLY queue Blink + Ravage (although I queue other tasks where it helps my game).
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