1) DOTA 2 is a hero based combat game, whereby two teams of 5 struggle to kill one another for bragging rights and ultimately to destroy the opposing team's "ancient" (large structure in middle of teams base). The two factions are Dire and Radiant, and differ only in aesthetic design and position on the map (differences are minor). To start playing go to the Play now tab and click "search", you will be put into a waiting pool where you will be granted the opportunity to play once 9 other players have been found of around the same skill level.


Every game starts out with hero selection whereby teams select a hero to play for the duration of the game, so choose wisely as your choice will be with you for the next 30-60 minutes (approximate game lengths). After you select your hero can you proceed to customize your heroes appearance and equip other non-gameplay influencing tools. After that you will be taken into the game "map", this is where all the gameplay will take place, the shop system is accessible from the right hand side of the display and it is recommended that at this time you purchase items for your hero (see section 4). You can also select abilities for you hero at this time, you begin with one point to put into one of your heroes three starter abilities, (see section 3 for general ability suggestions). The timer telling you how much time has passed or in the case of the beginning setup of the game, how much time there is left before the first "creep" wave spawns. (Basic controls such as movement, and attack commands are all under the options controls, in top left under the gear icon, and can be changed based on preference, this should be sorted prior to playing).


When the first creep wave spawn begins the AI controlled weak units will move in a group down their respective lanes/paths. At this point you should move down a lane with them, however coordinating what heroes go in which lane is important, and for general gameplay you should restrict it to 2 heroes maximum per lane (read below). Once you get more practice you can "block" creeps which involves you running infront of them and use the stop command or a zig zag pattern of moving to slow the units down. The object of the early game is to get "last hits" on enemy creeps in order to get a gold to buy more items, a last hit is essentially delivering the final blow to an enemy unit, killing it. Experience, which is required to gain additional levels, and with it, ability points and default stats, is gained from killing enemy heroes, neutral creeps (those residing in the woods), and enemy creeps. It is given within a circular area surrounding the creep/hero as it dies, so it is important to remain in the radius to gain experience.


The next aspect of the game involves "pushing" towers which essentially involves you along with your other heroes attacking enemy towers in an attempt to gain ground(typically best achieved when there are 2-5 allied heroes in a lane). By destroying enemy towers you get ever closer to the enemies base, and you can move across the map more freely. After you destroy the 2 lower towers there is a third tower on a ridge, this is a base tower and defends two barracks (one for melee creeps and one for ranged). Destroying the enemy barracks produces stronger creeps for your side in that respective lane. Once you have destroyed 1-2 of their lanes barracks sets you can proceed to destroy the enemy ancient, a structure which is protected by two towers. Destroying this structure wins the game for your team, and ends the game. At the end the score screen shows up, and you are awarded experience to your account and have the potential to get a free item (you get an item for every 1000xp you get guaranteed).


Side notes for gameplay:
-Roshan a giant creep which is extremely powerful dwells roughly in the center of the map on the Dire side of the river.
-The well is a healing structure for friendly units and an invulernable tower for enemies which deals a lot of damage, it is located where both teams originally spawn.
-Secret shops are located on the side lanes on the map, there is a general one the far edge of the map which an assortment of items, then there is the special one which is located between two of the lanes, which holds many of the items you will require in the game.

2) In general if you are new to the game you should start with matches against computer bots. Playing player versus player may ruin the experience for other players who are experienced at Dota 2, and may make game unenjoyable for you as well. Game modes essentially just impact the hero selection process, the gameplay itself is unchanged in all the modes. The game modes for DOTA 2 in standard rotation are as follows:



All Pick - A free for all pick fest, all heroes are open for selection. This is the most popular mode presently as it allows selection of any hero, typically in this mode you will more commonly see hero combinations which work together very well as the synergy can be taylored and counter picking is also possible with ease (most heroes have several counter heroes).

Random draft - Randomly heroes are selected from the overall pool and create a smaller pool, from which players from either team will take turns picking. This mode offers the fun of randomized combos, with the added challenge of trying to produce combos and counters based on the limited pool.

Single Draft - The closet thing to a completely random mode. Players are granted 3 random heroes to choose from, one strength, one agility and one intelligence. This mode offers some odd team combinations and additional challenge/variety versus the standard values.

Captain's Mode - One player is the captain, and they are in charge of banning certain heroes for the enemy team and picking heroes for their team. In this mode it is best to play with a team of friends, otherwise you are at the mercy of your team's captain to pick a good hero composition for your team. Arguably the professional game mode as seen in tournaments.

3) Item choices are dependant on numerous variables, hero, situation (you losing or winning?), gold inflow, etc. The key to picking the right items is something that takes experience, but with this section I hope to give you some general suggestions on how to build your hero for success. Due to constraints in guide size, please consult the in game item trees by clicking on items in order to see what they require to be created.

i) Before the creeps spawn - This is the point in the game when you are given a minimal amount of gold which will have the greatest impact in how you can perform early game. Spend wisely here, every team needs observer wards (1 set at least) and a courier to succeed, if you are what qualifies as a support hero, this falls to you. Map awareness, granted by observer wards prevent you from getting ganked and allow you to see things like runes. A courier allows you to use your gold you get immediately by carrying your goods to you, so you can stay in lane longer or become stronger faster. Beyond those two items, always get some form of self heal, either tangos (heal despite damage) or healing pots (heal but cancel on damage), they will allow you to stay in lane longer and get more gold & experience. Ironwood branches are your best friend at this point too for stat bonuses, they give you the edge in the early game and are easily disposed of for gold or item space. Other items are fine to get too, especially if they are used in crafting stronger items.

ii) Early game - Purchase items which are affordable for your hero and your class. If you are support keep purchasing wards, dust, and smoke as needed, but invest in cheap gear as well, you need to be able to fight too. If you are carry/semicarry purchase hero specific items depending on what kind of carry you are (consult various guides, varies based on changes to items and heroes). If you are losing, invest in cheap items in a hopes to turn the tide, as winning teamfights is crucial to game victory.

iii) Lategame - Think both of what is affordable and what will win you the game, you have to balance cost here with effectiveness. Getting more damage might help in one regard but if you are disabled you may be of no use to the team. Sometimes even saving your gold for buy back might be a wiser decision than excessive item purchases.

4) In this section I will attempt to discuss a couple of the basic heroes and general builds for them. You can consult individual hero guides for more specific and in depth information and play styles, here is simply some of what I feel are the easiest heroes to begin with.

Skeleton King

Melee Tank Carry

Play Style: You are a walking tank, with only one active ability which is also a stun, get hurt a lot, don't worry your ultimate revives you provided you have the mana. In general skeleton king is a point and click hero, you farm and are dependant on your items to determine whether you are a damage dealer or absorber. Skeleton king works in almost all situations and is a definite good starter class for anyone who wants to play a melee carry.
Abilities: How you input stats for skeleton king is almost impossible to mess up. Literally put points into your ultimate as it comes up and your level one point should always be into your active stun, the rest is up to you.

Sniper

Ranged Carry

Play Style: You basically shoot things from afar, what isn't to love? The sniper is an extremely strong late game carry which is dependant on boosting his agility/damage as well as his escape capacity, oh and don't worry about the enemy getting away, with assassinate, you can finish off any running hero with ease.
Abilities: The sniper is all about range, invest in your range (take aim) attribute greatly, and put points into assassinate as it comes up. While shrapnel is being useful for pushing and vision, it is not necessary and you can choose to go with a more headshot/stat heavy build if you want.

Lion

Ranged Support

Play Style: “Argh I can't move” your enemy exclaims, as you stun them with earthspike with a side serving of hex. Lion is an easy to learn disabler hero, capable of effectively taking enemies out of combat with powerful spells. These spells cost mana, but thats no concern to Lion, mana drain serves as a nice alternative to waiting around for mana (provided you don't prefer pure stat regen bonus), cast it on enemy heroes or use it on the ranged enemy creeps for strong spell superiority. Lion is an excellent choice for someone who wants to develop their skills in a supporting role.
Abilities: There are many ways to play Lion, you always need earthspike and the ultimate as they become available to upgrade, however hex, mana drain and stats all can be interchanged depending on the situation.

Zeus

Ranged Support

Play Style: Lightning strikes the same spot more than twice it seems. Zeus is a heavy nuke hero which has an ultimate ability which hits every enemy hero, showing you where they are and dealing some pretty big damage (use this to finish off people who are escaping or to gather intel on the enemy, don't use it for stealing kills). Zeus kind of needs scepter to reach his full potential but is a strong well rounded hero who can also reveal enemy invisible units/heroes with his bolts, adding an additional element of support when dust or gem is not practical.
Abilities: Zeus has a pretty rigid build order, you put points into his arc lightning and bolt (normally arc, bolt, arc, bolt, bolt, ultimate, bolt etc.), then proceed to put points into static field after those two abilities are maxed (of course putting points into his ultimate whenever the chance arises).

Antimage

Melee Blink Carry

Play Style: Jumping in and out of combat, a hard man to kill you are, cutting down mages in your wake. The antimage is a very focused hero, who essentially exists to kill heroes, which he accomplishes by “burning” their mana, making him effective against mana dependant heroes in more ways than one. After their mana is drained he can cast mana void which damages the enemy caster and nearby enemies based on their mana lost, but even should they have any remaining his spell shield reduces all magic damage received by a percentage.
Abilities: Blink is essential to antimage, however different people like to play the antimage differently, some people invest limited levels into blink early and focus on manabreak and spell shield, others invest heavily into blink and mana break early. Mana void is of course a must with the antimage although when casting this spell remember to burn as much mana as possible from the enemy before casting to maximize damage.