How to decide what to play in Dota Auto Chess

What to take into account when deciding what to play and when to decide

Introduction

When you are deciding what to play, there are a lot of things to take into account. In general, it is a judgement call based on experience. Below I have tried to break down the most important factors that you should consider when coming to a decision

The most important thing to note is that you should never, ever decide what you are playing before round 10 - the single most important factor in the decision should be your first relic.

When you should commit to going for a build

A general guide about when to commit/decide on a build:

What you should consider comes later in this guide, but when you should be committing to a build is important too. You may decide that you are going to play a late-game build at round 12, but only decide which one exactly when the units come at round 22.

When you get your first relic, you can make that choice. Just because you have some 2* assassins or warriors, doesn't mean that you will go down that route - you might just play six assassins/warriors/elves in the mid-game to save some HP and get you to the late game

Once you get to Round 10, you will also have a good idea about what direction the lobby is going and what kind of placing you can expect based on your relic, how you are doing and how others are doing.

Which round should you commit?

Early reroll comp (1$ or 2$ units): rounds 10-12

• Troll/Demon Hunters
  
• Faceless 2$
  
• Sniper + Elves
  
• Elemental Assassins
  
• Trolls/Knights

Mid-game reroll comp (3$ units): rounds 10-15

• Faceless 3$
  
• TB Aqirs
  
• M33po/SF
  
• 3$ Assassins
  
• Knights

Late-game comp (4$ units): rounds 20-25

• (Arc) Aqirs
  
• 9 Hunters
  
• 9 Mages

End-game comp (5$ units): rounds 20-30 when you get that key legendary

• Taurens/Gods/Cents
  
• 5 Dragons
  
• 6 Warlocks
  
• 6 Beasts + Gyro/Spectre
  
• 4 Trolls/4 Warlocks/4 Beasts
  
• Taurens/Shamans

What you should be thinking about when deciding what to go

The following are what you should take into consideration:

• Legendary Pool
  
• Available relics
  
• Items from creeps
  
• Relic on 10/20
  
• Units that come
  
• Your HP
  
• What others are playing
  
• Personal preference
  
• The X Factor

Legendary Pool

When the game starts, it is a good idea to quickly assess what is good late game - Dragons, Arc Aqirs, 6 Beasts, Warlocks, Taurens, etc. This will also give you an idea of what isn’t good this game.

• Elder Titan + Leshrac: 4 Cents / 4 Gods will be very strong
  
• Jakiro + good instacast legendaries - Tidehunter, Warlock, Disruptor, QOP, Zeus: there will definitely be 5 Dragon players late
  
• Prima Beast + Gyro/Spectre: you probably don't want to play Knights or 6 Warlocks as 6 Beasts is a major counter
  
• Arc Warden: Aqirs will be popular, so your build should have some serious clear

Although 9 Warriors/Assassins is quite popular in the Bishop and below lobbies, it is quite rare in Rook/Queen lobbies right now, so whether QOP/TA or Primal/Troll in the pool should help you decide what is good this game, usually for different builds than you might expect

Available relics

The relics that are available to you should factor into your decisions hugely - when you are buying early units, you should take into account what you are hoping for on round 10 and 20:

• Relics that can get you to late game: seeds, mango, second chance, sin reaper, malefic, (vault)
  
• Relics that can help you play early reroll comps: family discount, shrink ray, key
  
• Relics that will push the lobby: march of the beasts, mango, sin reaper

It will also give you an idea of what kind of lobby to expect. If there is vault, you can usually expect people to play passively early while they collect gold. If there is March of the Beasts, Sin Reaper and Mango Tree, then people will push early. If you see lots of reroll relics - key, family discount, shrink, expect people to really come online at level 20.

If you’d like to see a tier list and discussion of round 10 relics, you can check it out here:

This will give you a better idea of what you can play and which relics work best for your builds

Items from creeps

The early items you get can really swing you in a certain direction:

• Lucky pendant: consider knights, assassins or elves with Marci carry.
  
• Witless Shako: you can check for good relics for TB Aqirs or shamans
  
• Vanguard: you could consider a build with a melee carry like Timber in 2$ Void or LC in 3$ Faceless
  
• Arcane boots: M33po/SF
  
• Telescope: Hunters
  
• Necro book: anything you like - this item is OP!

Units that come

Units that come between round one and ten should definitely help you decide

However, just because you get a 2* Luna on round 2, you might immediately decide Knights are not an option if some of the hardest counters are in the pool: Primal Beast (for six beasts), Enigma (for pure damage) or Jakiro (because your Legion will be contested); you might, see shrink is in the pool and use the early momentum this 2* carry is giving you to go troll/knights with shrink - again, there are many factors to consider

• 2* Slark: check for reroll relics for assassins
  
• 2* Timber: see if it is a good 2$ Faceless game
  
• Legion commander + winning rounds: Look at Knights or 3$ Faceless
  
• Lots of Druids: Look at relics that would help you build TB Aqirs or Elves
  
• 2* Meurta: Meurta/Trolls

What others are playing

Playing the strongest comp possible that game can win you the game, but also countering what would be the strongest comp could also win you the game.

Your HP

If you have had a bad early game and get to round 12 with 60 HP, it is going to be very difficult for you to play late game in a pushed lobby - far better to play something that will come online before you die. If you are win streaking with 90+HP and playing vault or seeds, anything is possible

Personal preference

If you are a warrior expert or you enjoy one-shotting noobs with PA 3*, then by all means play what you are comfortable with. There are ‘ideal’ relics for certain set-ups and games where on paper warriors look bad, but could win the lobby in the right hands. If you think you can place well or even win with your favourite build, go for it!

Check out this game in which 9 Warriors manage to beat 5 Dragons/6 Mages; on paper, warriors are good against physical lineups because of their extra armour, but in this game, this Huskar - with insane items and built-in magic resistance, was unkillable and the 9 warrior damage reflection killed all the mages!

Last season, I got Queen by ‘spamming’ a couple of builds I was very confident in - I knew the timings and power spikes, which units to prioritise and when, so I was able to place well in most lobbies, even if it wasn’t the ideal game for these builds. I would definitely recommend leaning into your strengths - this game often relies on instinct!

The X Factor

The X-Factor is something you didn't take into account when making your decision

It is usually something that comes unexpectedly or and will turn your decision-making process upside down - these are the kind of games that we all love and one of the reasons, for me at least, that Auto Chess has so much replayability:

• Panda drop
  
• Repair Tools
  
• 3* from egg on round 10
  
• Early 3* carry

Panda drops
Maybe you drop Gyro or another Legendary in the first 10 rounds and this will decide your build - check a few examples here:

6 Mech gameplay:

Sven drop:

Panda drops:

Repair Tools
When you are close to repair tools after the creeps on 10, you might hope to get it on round 15 with March of the Beasts, but it isn't usually something you can count on. When you do get it - even with the recent pricing nerf - if played right, it is game-winning. Here are some examples:

Sven carry:

Double Pango 3*

Six shamans

3* from round 10 egg:
Sometimes you put a hero in the egg on 10 and manage to 3* it by round 20 - again, a build-defining moment!

DLZ beat me with his 3* Earthshaker here:

Early 3$ 2* Carry:

Check out Serbian Butcher's Imaginative build when he gets an early TB 2*:

Some examples

Some practical examples of Legendary Pools/Relics and what could be good late game comps:

Example 1:



Strong late game comps:

• 5 Dragons with Tide/Disruptor/Primal
  
• Tauren/Gods/Centaurs
  
• Taurans/Shamans
  
• Six Warlocks
  
• Arc Aqirs

Relics to get there:

• Seeds
  
• Mango

So, if I got seeds or mango on round 10, I would most-likely go for a late game comp and hope for egg/elite or maybe rambling on round 20. It would depend on how many people push the lobby with mangoes/4$ units in egg on round 10, how good HP is looking and what units come.

Otherwise, I would most likely play something that comes online earlier since shrink and key mean that people will be ready to fight earlier.

5 Dragons could be OK in the late game, but there is no second chance and the legendaries to play with it are not the best, so I would be less worried by this comp unless I saw someone with an early KoTL or DK 2*. However, Rambling KoTL into a Dragon would definitely be scary here!

Example 2



Strong late game comps:

• 6 Beasts + Gyro/Arc
  
• Arc Aqirs
  
• 4 Warlocks + Gyro

Relics to get there:

• Sin Reaper
  
• Mango
  
• Malefic
  
• (Vault)

Getting to late game could be tricky here - the best relic on round 10 is potentially Malefic, though if multiple people play it or the lobby is too pushed, it could be hard to recover. You could definitely risk Sin Reaper or Mango, though these two are also risky because egg enjoyers could be strong if they find early 2* 4$ unit and also the lobby could be very pushed from other Mango/Sin Reaper players

I think getting Vault and playing a mid-game comp based on your units/items would most likely be the most reliable way to secure a high placing in this kind of lobby

[Danny]

Awesome guide.

I would love an update :)