Is Dota2 new to you? Do you hear abbreviations and phrases that send you into a sweat as you try to keep up with pace? Panic not. We’ve compiled a list of all the main in-game items, hero names and common terminology to get you started. You’re welcome.
In-Game Items
(Abyssal) | Abyssal Blade |
(AC) | Assault Cuirass |
(Aegis) | Aegis of the Immortal |
(Aghs / Aghanims / Scepter) | Aghanim’s Scepter |
(Arcanes / Mana boots) | Arcane Boots |
(Armlet) | Armlet of Mordiggian |
(Atos) | Rod of Atos |
(Basher) | Skull of Basher |
(BKB) | Black King Bar |
(Blink) | Blink Dagger |
(Boots / Brown Boots) | Boots of Speed |
(BoT / Bots) | Boots of Travel |
(Branch / GG Branch) | Iron Brand |
(Cour / Crow) | Animal Courier or Flying Courier |
(Crit) | Crystalys or Daedalus |
(Deso) | Desolater |
(Diffusal) | Diffusal Blade |
(Rapier) | Divine Rapier |
(Drum) | Drum of Endurance |
(Dust) | Dust of Appearance |
(Eblade/Ethblade) | (Ethereal Blade) |
(euls) | (Eul’s Scepter of Divinity) |
(Gem) | Gem of True Sight |
(Heart) | Heart of Tarrasque |
(Halberd/HH) | Heaven’s Halberd |
(Hood) | Hood of Defiance |
(HotD) | Helm of the Dominator |
(Greaves) | Guardian Greaves |
(Linkens) | Linken’s Sphere |
(Lotus) | Lotus Orb |
(Mango) | Enchanted Mango |
(Manta) | Manta Style |
(Medallion) | Medallion of Courage |
(Mek) | Mekansm |
(Midas) | Hand of Midas |
(Mkb) | Money King Bar |
(MoM) | Mask of Madness |
(Necrobook) | Necronomicon |
(Obs / Obs Ward / Observer) | Observer Ward |
(Octarine) | Octarine Core |
(Oov) | Orb of Venom |
(Orchid) | Orchid Malevolence |
(Phase) | Phase Boots |
(Pipe) | Pipe of Insight |
(PMS / Poor Mans) | Poor Man’s Shield |
(Quelling / QB) | Quelling Blade |
(Refresher) | Refresher Orb |
(Relic) | Sacred Relic |
(Salve) | Healing Salve |
(Sblade) | Shadow Blade |
(Sentry) | Sentry Ward |
(Sheepstick / Sheep / Hex) | Scythe of Vyse |
(Shivas) | Shiva’s Guard |
(Skadi) | Eye of Skadi |
(Smoke) | Smoke of Deceit |
(SnY) | Sange and Yasha |
(Stick) | Magic Stick |
(Stout) | Stout of Shield |
(TP / TP Scroll / Teleport Scroll) | Town Portal Scroll |
(Tranquils) | Tranquil Boots |
(Treads) | Power Treads |
(Urn) | Urn of Shadows |
(Veil) | Veil of Discord |
(Vlads) | Vladmir’s Offering |
(Wand) | Magic Wand |
Hero Names’ Abbreviations or Shortcuts:
Pit lord/Underlord | Abyssal Underlord |
Alch | Alchemist |
Aa | Ancient Apparition |
Am | Anti-Mage |
Zet/Warden | Arc Warden |
Bat | Batrider |
Bm | Beastmaster |
Bs | Bloodseeker |
Bh/Bounty | Bounty Hunter |
Bm/Brew/Panda | Brewmaster |
Bb/Bristle | Bristleback |
Bm/Brood | Broodmother |
Centaur | Centaur Warrunner |
Ck | Chaos Knight |
Clock/Cw | Clockwerk |
Cm | Crystal Maiden |
Ds | Dark Seer |
Dp | Dark Prophet |
Dk | Dragon Knight |
Drow | Drow Ranger |
Es | Earthshaker |
Et/Elder | Elder Titan |
Ember | Ember Spirit |
Enchant | Enchantress |
Void | Faceless Void |
Gyro | Gyrocopter |
Jak/Thd | Jakiro |
Jugg | Juggernaut |
Kotl | Kepper of the Light |
Lc/Legion | Legion Commander |
Lesh | Leshrac |
N’aix/Ls | Lifestealer |
Ld/Druid | Lone Druid |
Mag | Magnus |
Potm | Mirana |
Morph | Morphling |
Naga | Naga Siren |
Np/Prophet/Furion | Nature’s Prophet |
Necro | Necrophos |
Ns | Night Stalker |
Nyx | Nyx Assassin |
Ogre | Ogre Magi |
Omni | Omniknight |
Od | Outworld Devourer |
Pa | Phantom Assassin |
Pl | Phantom Lancer |
Qop | Queen of Pain |
Sk | Sand King |
Sd | Shadow Demon |
Sf | Shadow Fiend |
Shaman/Rhasta | Shadow Shaman |
Sky/Skywrath | Skywrath Mage |
Sb | Spirit Breaker |
Storm | Storm Spirit |
Ta | Templar Assassin |
Tb | Terrorblade |
Tide | Tidehunter |
Timber | Timbersaw |
Tree/Treant | Treant Protector |
Troll | Troll Warlord |
Venge/Vs | Vengeful Spirit |
Veno | Venomancer |
Wr | Windranger |
Ww/Wyvern | Winter Wyvern |
Wd | Witch Doctor |
Wk | Wraith King |
Common Terminology
Ancient
Ancient is the core of each team. It is the central main structure within the team camp. The main goal of Dota 2 is to destroy the opponent’s Ancient. The first team to destroy the Ancient of the opponent wins the game.
b
‘b’ means to go back or retreat urgently. Only a single character ‘b’ is typed by allies in the team chat since the order requires urgent action and response to avoid getting attacked, or worse, killed by an oncoming opponent. When in teamspeak, “back” is shouted, but sometimes ‘b’ is also said, and both mean the same thing, which is to retreat.
Bot
Bot is a shortened word for “bottom”, which are two lanes forming an almost right angle. It runs from the bottom (coming from the Radiant side), going up to the right portion of the map (Dire side).
Clash
When 2 or more characters engage into a battle with 2 or more opponents, it is called a clash.
Creeps
Creeps are non-playable, but also fighting units within Dota 2. There are two types of creeps: lane creeps and neutral creeps and both can be killed to gain experience and gold. Lane creeps are automatically spawned every 30 seconds from the base camps’ three areas (top, middle, and bottom). Neutral creeps are spawned by default at the start of the game, and will only respawn if they get killed or pulled.
DD
DD is an abbreviation of “double damage”, which is actually a rune that can be found on the river. The Double Damage rune increases attack damage by 100%, however, it does not affect spells and it also does not affect spell immunity and invulnerable heroes.
Def
Def is a shortened term for the word “defend”, meaning, to defend the tower, lane, or the ancient.
Deny / Denying
Denying is a sub-task in Dota 2, wherein the player will attack its own allies: near-dying creeps, structures, or even teammates, to avoid the opponent in getting the gold and experience if they have killed it instead.
Dire
Also known as the “evil team” or Scourge (terminology from Dota 1), it is located at the upper right corner of the map. It has a dark and gloomy theme; trees without leaves, lava near the Ancient, and decaying areas. Some examples of Dire heroes are Shadow Fiend, Lich, Lion, and Pudge.
Exp / XP / Experience
Experience is gained by doing several actions in the game, most often by killing enemy units. It can also be gained from runes or killing neutral units/creeps. A number of experience points must be collected in order for the hero to achieve level up and be able to get additional skills or status points.
Farm / Farming
Farm or Farming is the act of prioritizing the acquisition of gold (in-game money) by killing opponent creeps or jungle creeps, rather than directly fighting the opponent.
Focus
When a teammate shouts “Focus (character name)”, it means that the whole team has to focus on attacking that specific character. This is more commonly used in team clashes (multiple characters versus multiple characters), and the team focuses on one opponent at a time to make quick kills.
Gank
Gank or ganking, means to gang-up on a single character, hence raising the chances of getting the opponent killed without so much of a fight. Players can either shout “Gank (character name)” to specifically gank a single opponent, or “Gank (top/mid/bot)”, to gank whoever the opponent is on that specific lane.
Harass
This is usually done when laning, to harass means purposely attacking the opponent in an effort to take advantage of the lane. Harassing, when successful, should make the opponent back-off from killing the creeps, therefore it cannot gain gold or experience.
Juke
To juke means to confuse the opponent in making unpredictable actions, usually used when trying to escape. This is used in the jungle area, as the lanes are not as straight-forward as the top, middle and bottom lanes, and also the river which is also a straight path.
Jungle / Woods / Forest
The jungle area is a big expanse outside the lanes, that is located at the top left for the dire and lower right for the radiant. The jungle area is split diagonally in the middle by a river, which is the main distinguisher from Radiant area and Dire area. It is also where neutral creeps are located and where heroes hide to perform several strategic actions like, ganking on an enemy hero, escape from an attacking opponent, or perform a pincer attack depending on the positions of the heroes. Jungler heroes are usually here to kill or stack neutral creeps for additional gold and experience.
Mid
Mid is a shortened term for “middle”, meaning the middle lane of the map. It is a diagonal straight lane, which connects the Radiant and Dire bases directly, making it more important for defending/attacking, since lane creeps would reach the bases faster through this lane.
Pull / Pulling
Pull / Pulling can have two meanings:
1. To pull the creeps away from their lane, meaning, the player has to make the creeps follow the character into the jungle or any other area that is not part of the lanes. This method is used to make the player’s own creeps move into the lane without encountering opponent creeps, thus making the push faster.
2. To pull neutral/jungle creeps into your own lane and maximizing an AoE skill to kill off several creeps at a time, thus becoming more effective in farming, and at the same time preventing the opponent from getting gold or experience from the neutral creeps.
Push
To push means to clear enemy creeps and build allied creep waves to take down enemy buildings faster and ultimately to dominate the lane.
Rosh
Rosh is actually a shortcut of the name “Roshan”, which is the biggest single neutral creep near the river on the Dire middle-bottom side. When a teammate shouts “Rosh”, it can mean to start killing Roshan, or alert the team that the opponent is already killing Roshan.
Rosh Pit / Roshan Pit
Shortcut for the “Tarn of Roshan”, it is the area where Roshan stays and spawns/respawns. Players usually frequent this area, either to get the first Roshan kill and acquire the Aegis of Immortality item, or, to prevent the opponents from killing Roshan.
Spam
To spam is to repeatedly use one or multiple spells until an opponent gets killed, or the character’s mana gets used up.
Stack / Stacking / Stacked
When pulling neutral creeps away from their camps but not killing them, after some time a new set of neutral creeps will respawn. This is done to gather more neutral creeps and to farm gold and experience faster.
Top
The top lane are two lanes forming an almost right angle, which runs from the left side of the map (coming from the Radiant side), going to the top portion of the map (Dire side).
TP
Abbreviation for “Teleport”, it means to use items that can perform teleportation in the game, like Town Portal Scroll, or Boots of Travel. It can also be spoken by teammates as a request, for example “tp mid now” would mean to urgently teleport into the middle lane to probably assist a teammate in a fight, or to help push enemy creeps, among others.
Tower
Towers are buildings that defend the three lanes: top, middle, and bottom. Each lane has three towers, and the closer the towers are from the Ancient, the stronger the tower is. Towers are immune to spells, hence can only be destroyed by using normal attacks and also by the lane creeps. By default, towers attack enemy units that are closest to it. However, when an enemy character attacks a defending hero that is within the attacking range of the tower, the tower will change its target to the enemy character.
Radiant
Also known as the “good team” or Sentinel (terminology from Dota 1), it is located at the lower left side of the map. It has a bright and peaceful, orderly theme; trees with leaves, green grass, clean areas, and glowing lights near the Ancient. Some examples of Radiant heroes are Omniknight, Sniper and Skywrath mage.