ㅤㅤㅤ Dota 2 is a multiplayer online battle arena game pitting two teams of five players against each other. One team plays for the light side, the other for the dark side. The ultimate goal of each match is to destroy the enemy's "fortress", a special object belonging to the enemy, and defend your own fortress. Like Defense of the Ancients, Dota 2 uses mouse and keyboard controls similar to real-time strategy games and a long-range perspective that simulates an isometric projection.
ㅤ ㅤㅤ Each of the ten participants in a match controls a single character, called a hero; players choose one of 126 heroes, each with a recognizable appearance, strengths and weaknesses, and a set of unique abilities, including the most powerful of them, the ultimate. During a match, a player fulfills a specific role, such as "carry" or "support", and heroes may have characteristics that are better suited for one role or another. During a match, a hero can gain experience points, earn gold, and buy and collect items that strengthen them or give them additional abilities. Carries are often relatively weak at the start of a match, but as they gain experience points, they become stronger and gain access to abilities that allow them to easily defeat enemies and ultimately achieve victory for the entire team. Support abilities allow them to provide assistance to allies - for example, by increasing their defense or restoring lost health points.
ㅤㅤㅤ If a hero's health points are reduced to zero - for example, by being defeated in battle by an enemy hero - the hero is considered "dead" for some time; after this time, the hero reappears next to a fountain near his fortress, and the player controlling him can resume the game. Destroying an enemy hero brings its winner a significant amount of gold and experience points. Each match takes place on a special square map, where the fortresses of both teams are in opposite corners, and the players are spread out along the paths connecting these fortresses - "lanes".
ㅤㅤㅤ In addition to the players themselves, the game involves computer-controlled creatures called "creeps" and stationary structures called "towers", each of which is on the same side; they also participate in the battle by attacking the enemy's heroes and creeps, thereby helping "their" team. The fog of war, which covers most of the map, prevents players from tracking the enemy's movements.