Stealth heroes tend to turn into pub stompers when used against inexperienced players, you may have seen it yourself in various games of DOTA. Either it’s a Gondar who is 10 and 0 15 minutes in, or a Clinkz who can kill you in seconds and then vanish into thin air without your team having time to react. There have been times where a Gondar has taken out a whole team because he would just pop, kill someone, than vanish and no one could do anything to stop him. The reasons that these heroes become such wrecking balls is not simply because of stealth, it’s the fact that they have high damage and a way to escape confrontation. Any hero with such capabilities will do the same thing, like a Nightstalker…at night.

              What does stealth truly bring to the table? What does a stealth hero do to your team when used against you? In competitive game play players know how to use items and tactics to counter stealth as well as the knowledge and experience to use stealth to its fullest potential.

When you have a good stealther on your team who is harassing and maybe even getting a few early kills the other team is forced to buy items like wards, dust, and/or a gem in order to prevent said stealther from continuing. This is not only hurting their pockets, but it keeps people from being as aggressive as they should have been, which may also be costing them gold from not attaining early game kills.

When you are up against a stealther you need to use the tools on hand in order to counter them. If you don’t, you lose. If you don’t deal with the stealther early he will become fed and eat your team alive in the middle-end game.  It completely changes your personal and team tactics.

So in conclusion, stealth in a MOBA genre game is a must. It adds to the meta-game that is MOBA. It adds another facet to an already multi-faceted gem of a game and gives unique opportunities for smart, and knowledgeable players. And of course stealth heroes are great for new players because they tend to be a bit on the more forgiving side…until of course someone buys a gem and you see some new guy screaming “Hey, they must be cheating, they can see me in stealth”!

With any game, there is a learning curve. With DOTA, the curve starts at the top of a roller coaster that is a free fall down a three-thousand foot drop. Without a cart. Or tracks. A beginner will find himself entering the game at a severe disadvantage, and will likely be farmed into oblivion before they even figure out the basic controls. This quick-start guide will get you on the fast track to success in game with one of the steepest learning curves known to man.

First off, you're coming into the game with people who have been playing it for years. There are nearly one-hundred heroes to master, and more items than you can shake a stick at. First thing's first – start a game by yourself, and start memorizing items and recipes. You are going to want to be in your “lane” as much as possible – consider building regeneration items first, or work up to the quintessential DOTA item, the Power Treads. Almost always, you should grab some Ancient Tangos of Essifation when you begin to make sure you'll be able to take a beating early on and still stay in your lane.

Speaking of lanes. You're going to be in one – you may or may not be with another one of the heroes on your team. Either way, there's one thing that will be very important as you learn to play – make sure to call out missing opponents. If you're chilling in your lane and suddenly you notice that the opposing team's hero is missing, take the split second to type out (or shout out, if you're using voice chat) that he is “MIA” or missing – you will save one of your teammates lives by this simple action, as the missing suspect is probably setting up a nasty gank in one of the many woodsy areas on the beloved DOTA map.

Tower diving – especially when you're starting, you're really going to want to get that kill because you want to impress your team and yourself, to prove that you are not the nub you are. But don't tower dive. What is tower diving? It's taking a bunch of unnecessary blasts from the lane towers while you attempt to be Superman chasing down your opponent – if you don't know exactly what you are doing this will likely result in the opponent simply walking back a few feet, and you dying and making your team start tearing their hair out and nerd raging all over the place. They might even leave.

Learning DOTA is a daunting task, but a very worthwhile one. You'll have to endure some frustration, verbal abuse, and horrible horrible beatings at first, but in the end you'll find yourself playing one of the best team games out there. So sit back, take a few deep breaths, and enjoy the ride.

First, this great article is not of my authory, I took it from: http://forums.dota-allstars.com/index.php?showtopic=245439 and posted here so it could be more easily acessed.

The authors names are in the end of the article, anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

A Pseudo Random Distribution refers to the Warcraft III engine's dynamic probability calculations for certain percentage-based attack modifiers. Rather than using a static percentage, the probability is first set to a small initial value, then gradually increased with each consecutive attack for which the modifier does not occur. The probability then drops back to the initial value when the attack modifier does apply. Not only does this system make long strings of successful modifiers unlikely, but it also makes going an entire game without an attack modifier occurring impossible, as eventually the dynamic probability exceeds 100% and "forces" a modifier on the next attack. The distribution of attack modifiers is therefore not truly random, hence the term Pseudo Random Distribution. In general, all abilities that are rounded to the nearest 5% in the Warcraft III engine follow this probability distribution.

• Critical Strike (ex. Coup de Grace, Crystalys)
• Bash (ex. Time Lock, Slithereen Guard's Bash. Since its remake, Cranium Basher no longer follows this distribution.)
• Pulverize (ex. Flaming Fists, Anchor Smash)
• Orb of Slow (ex. Maim, Maelstrom)
• Hardened Skin (ex. Stout Shield, Vanguard)

Graphs
To make the point even more clear, consider one of the above abilities with P(E) = 10%. The following graph shows the probability of getting an attack modifier on the Nth attack since the last modifier occurred, if the distribution were truly random. It is important to note that while the probability of getting an attack modifier for each individual attack is always 10% in a true random distribution, simply getting to the Nth attack without an attack modifier has only a (1 - P(E))^(N - 1) chance. So for N = 2, the probability is 0.09: 90% chance that the first (N = 1) attack was not an attack modifier, multiplied by the chance of getting a critical for the N = 2 attack (10% for all attacks in a true random mechanism).

Note that the distribution follows a simple exponential formula, with a probability that steadily decreases by 0.1 with each consecutive attack.

Now compare that graph with this Pseudo Random Distribution. This graph shows the same probability of getting an attack modifier on the Nth attack since the last modifier occurred, but with Warcraft III's Pseudo Random Distribution. Again, it is important to note that this graph does not show the individual probability of getting an attack modifier on the Nth attack (given by P(N) = C * N), but the product of P(N) and the chance that none of the previous N - 1 attacks have had a successful attack modifier.

Note that the chance for the first attack is equal to the value of C for P(E) = 10%: 0.01475. The differences should be clear: there is a much lower chance of getting consecutive attack modifiers, the overall distribution is shifted to the right, and there is also a finite point at which the probability reaches 0, although not quite shown on this graph.

Applications
The Pseudo Random Distribution has clear gameplay uses and implications. A hero with a Critical Strike ability could fight creeps until a long string of non-Criticals occurred, then head into a team battle or gank with an increased Critical Strike chance for his first attack(s). Such a tactic, while time consuming, could significantly increase the hero's DPS for that battle. The applications are even greater for Bash heroes, who could build up the same string of non-Bashes in order to maximize their chances of landing a Bash in the beginning of battle. Furthermore, the fact that consecutive Bashes are discouraged by the Pseudo Random Distribution benefits Bash heroes greatly in that Stun times will not overlap as much as in a true random distribution, making Permabashing a distinct possibility.

While not completely confirmed, it would be logical to assume that the counter of consecutive attacks does not increase when attacking units against whom the attack modifier can not apply. So attacking an enemy building repeatedly would not increase the chance of a Critical Strike or Bash on the first subsequent attack(s) against an enemy unit.

Yesterday, The Asian World Cyber Games conducted a live draw to place teams in groups. The top two teams from each group will advance into the "Knockout Stages". The Asian World Cyber games will take place at the Suntech Hall in Singapore July 3-5th! Stay tuned for one of DotA's biggest LAN event of the year where all the top teams in Asia gather in on an epic battle front!

Group A

• India
• Singapore
• Korea
• New Zealand

Group B:

• Malaysia
• Bangladesh
• Sri Lanka
• Vietnam

Group C

• Philippines
• Chinese Taipei
• China

Group D

• Australia
• Indonesia
• Japan

Credits: PMS.Rinoa(http://forums.dota-allstars.com/index.php?showuser=77331)