Dota 2

Steam Time Analysis tool compares friend data, tells you how much you’ve spent in Steam

Lambent Stew’s free, web-based Steam Time Analysis tool laid bare my backlog of shame by breaking down time spent (or not spent) on each of my library’s games like some sort of cold, ruthless PowerPoint presentation. The breadth of information provided is quite impressive. Over email, Stew told us the new build includes a few new features that further visualize users’ habits.

Dota 2 Polycount Contest overall winner revealed; Frostivus announced

Valve have revealed the final five winners of the Dota 2 Polycount Contest, including the recipient of the Best Overall award. The modelling competition tasked entrants with creating a unique item set for one of the heroes, and the Dota 2 team have been listing their favourites over the past week.

Steam adds guides, lets you share your wisdom with the community

I think Steam gets a bit jealous when you visit other places for gaming related information. That would explain why it’s slowly trying to integrate every aspect of the internet into its darkened pages. The latest: game guides, previously the preserve of YouTube, wikis and £15 books that surely no-one actually bought.

Valve selects first six winners of the Dota 2 Polycount Contest

With bajillions over 180,000 players playing Dota 2 simultaneously on the daily, at least a few of the dedicated will know how to push around a digi-brush. The Dota 2 Polycount Contest collected nearly 75 high-quality entries of custom-designed armors to submit to Valve’s judgement with the winners having their works included in the in-game store for purchase. On Dota 2′s official blog, Valve revealed the first six lucky winners today and touted gorgeous new player-made duds for Crystal Maiden, Naga Siren, Beastmaster, Templar Assassin, Meepo, and Witch Doctor heroes.

Dota 2 hits new high with 180k concurrent players

Dota 2′s popularity hit a new peak on Saturday when it passed the 180,000 concurrent players point. A glance at stats gathered from Steam using Steamgraph turns up a new high for Valve’s Dotalike, which has continued to gain popularity after a spike in September triggered by The International tournament. Dota 2′s peak figure is second only to Skyrim, which hit 287,411 players shortly after launch late last year.

Dota 2 Diary: Dancing with towers

The art of the tower-dive is a noble one. Exposing yourself to mortal danger in the hope of gaining a little gold and experience — it’s like sleeping with Lindsay Lohan.

Tower diving is the process of running under one of the opponents’ towers to try and kill an enemy on low health before they get away. It’s one of the situations where new players, and even some experienced players, die because they don’t understand the risks involved.

When tower-diving, the odds are stacked massively against you for three reasons. The first is that you’re taking a lot more damage than normal from the magical projectiles being fired at you. The second is that towers have ‘true sight’, meaning they can see through any invisibility skills. The third is that there’s a big stack of enemy creeps heading your way, with none of your own creeps to distract them.

Skill School: How to last hit with Dota 2′s Sniper

We love games like Dota 2, League of Legends, and Smite, but the myriad skills needed to master their complex gameplay can scare new players away. That’s why, twice a month, we pick a key skill and teach you how to master it, using a character that particularly excels at or relies on that skill in-game.

This week, we’re tackling the most basic and rewarding skill, last hitting NPC creeps. And there’s no better hero to learn the ropes with than Dota 2’s long-range, kill-master Sniper.

Steam logs over 6 million concurrent users during Thanksgiving weekend

Combating Thanksgiving food comas with the awe-inspiring power of the gaming binge, over 6 million gamers logged into Valve’s digi-hub over the weekend after enduring the motions of spending “time” with “family.” Undoubtedly spurred on by the Autumn Sale and its many wallet puns, the surge also rode the waves of numerous major releases such as PlanetSide 2, Assassin’s Creed 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.

Tidehunter guide – Dota 2 Hero College

“Who needs a big brain when you’ve got teeth like mine?”

That line, plucked from Tidehunter‘s stable of bassy, boastful voice-over, tells you everything you need to know about him. The disenchanted former champion of the Sunken Isles is big, green and—relative to certain other Heroes—straightforward enough to play with your brain turned off. He’s a mana-efficient, no-frills initiator and a loveable lug all-around.

Read on for a full walkthrough of Tidehunter’s skills, items, and strategies.

Dota 2 Diary: three heroes waiting in the wings

Valve is still working on polishing the last bits of Dota 2 before a full release, including the completion of the tutorial for the game. But we haven’t got all the heroes yet, either. A total of sixteen heroes from the original game, at the time of writing, are unreleased. They range from the stompy…