How to Deal with Low Priority

This guide will tell you how to deal with Dota 2's Low Priority system in the most efficient manner.

What is Low Priority?

If you're new to Dota 2 or you have a good track record and have never gotten into Low Priority, you might wonder what it is.

Low Priority is a separate matchmaking queue from normal which restricts you to single draft mode, only matches you with other people in Low Priority, and takes longer to find matches in general. You receive no trophy points or item drops while in Low Priority, and anyone who queues with you in a party will be put in Low Priority as well as long as they're in a party with you. You stay in the low priority queue until you win a set number of matches, which can be viewed by clicking on 'find match' while you're in low priority.

How do I get into Low Priority?

There are two ways to get into Low Priority - abandoning games when they aren't safe to leave, or being reported.

Valve is not transparent at all about the way these systems work, in order to prevent people from gaming the system, but I've done a great deal of hands-on testing and I can tell you generally how both of these methods work.

You get one free abandon per week. I'm not sure when this resets but it seems to be over the weekend, probably on Sunday. On the other hand, it might be a week from when you last abandoned. This is intended to allow people who have poor connections or other issues that arise during the course of a game to be able to quit a game in good conscience without being punished.

If you abandon more than once per week, you will get into Low Priority. This is not a 'cross your fingers and hope for the best' scenario - you will definitely get put into Low Priority for doing this, no exceptions.

You will count as having abandoned if you are AFK for more than 5 minutes, or if you are disconnected for more than 5 minutes. If you're in a normal game and your team is competent, tell them that you have to go, share hero control with them, and cross your fingers. Do not disconnect; as long as you are connected to the game, that timer will not count down and you will only have to deal with the AFK timer. In Dota 2, being AFK is defined as 'not gaining XP.' If you gain XP, you're not AFK, even if you're not there at the computer.



The second way to get into Low Priority is to be reported. This method was more difficult to test and is the easiest to abuse. The report system works automatically on a variety of heuristics (which are, obviously, not available to the public, but I've done a lot of testing and I think I've determined a lot of them).

If someone gets angry and reports you, nothing is going to happen. A single report from a single player, or even from multiple players, doesn't matter. You are only going to be put into Low Priority from reports if you are reported over multiple games in a short period of time.

Thanks to the introduction of the behavior report that you get every 10 games, you can tell more or less how many reports it takes to get into Low Priority. These are numbers that I've hand-tested, so I can't tell you if they're 100% accurate, but it seems like you need about 8 or 9 reports within that 10-game period in order to end up in Low Priority.

In addition, I believe that reports made against other players in Low Priority either do not count or are greatly discounted. I have never had my Low Priority games reset due to reports while I was in Low Priority.

Muting is a different issue which I haven't investigated. I have never been muted and while I believe it works on similar principles to being put into Low Priority by being reported, I am not sure.

In simple terms, to avoid Low Priority, do not abandon or get an abandon more than once every seven days or so, and do not feed intentionally more than once every three games.

I'm not sure if Low Priority acts any differently for Ranked games as opposed to normal games. Reports seem to function the same, as well as the one free abandon per week, but I would still be cautious of abandoning or feeding in Ranked games nevertheless.

Because Valve have recently changed the number of reports available to players, and because of how the new UI works, there is a big loophole in this system: if a game becomes safe to leave (because, for example, you're feeding so hard someone gets fed up and abandons), anyone who leaves WILL NOT be able to report you. You can only report people at the natural end of the game now, and if you leave prematurely that option is no longer available.

How many games will I have to win to leave?

The number of games you will have to win to get out of Low Priority varies based on how much of a repeat offender you are. Due to all my testing, whenever I get into Low Priority, I have to win 5 games. If you have never been in Low Priority before, or you have not been in a long time, expect to have to win 1 to 3 games.

5 games is the maximum number you will have to win. I have abandoned a great deal while already in Low Priority and my games to win has never increased above 5.

How do I get out of Low Priority?

Getting out of Low Priority is simple - win your games. Once you've won every game you have to to get out, you can queue up for normal matchmaking and select modes other than Single Draft.

However, because Low Priority games have something riding on them, there is a more optimal way to play than in a normal game of Dota.

To put it simply, the only thing that matters in Low Priority is if you win and at least one player on the enemy team is still connected. Note that if you win but everyone on the enemy team has abandoned, you will not be credited with a win.

If the game is safe to leave and you know you are going to lose, leave. You can queue up for another match and try again.

Note that in a recent update, abandoning a game while you are at five games left to win will now place you on a matchmaking cooldown, first for twenty minutes, then jumping up to a day and so on. Abandoning while at five games left won't increase the games you have left to win, but due to this system is now no longer worth doing more than once, as you will spend more time sitting out than playing the game.

Once you are at 4 games or lower, you will have to slog through a few games that cannot be won. In order to expedite this process, once you know that the game cannot win, buy a shadow amulet and afk in mid (check back occasionally to make sure nothing has happened to you) or just feed. Because reports in Low Priority have little or no effect, you can safely feed without repercussions. To be safe, however, I suggest doing this only every other game at the very most.

If the game is ever safe to leave and you are at a disadvantage, I suggest you leave immediately and queue back up unless you believe you can come back and win.

Wins are rare in Low Priority. If there is even a slight chance you can win, you should fight for it. However, judge this cautiously. Wasting 60 minutes on a loss is not efficient and will not get you out of Low Priority any quicker.

I acknowledge that this is an incredibly sociopathic way of playing Dota. However, you will need to be this cutthroat and opportunistic if you want to get out of Low Priority. Based on my personal experience, one out of every three games will be safe to leave due to someone abandoning early. In these circumstances, if you can get at least one guy on the other team to stick around - that's great. However, if they all leave or if you are going to lose, just leave. It wastes less of your time.

Similarly, never stay to the end of a lost game if you can help it. Either feed and do something else or abandon if the opportunity is available.

In terms of actually playing the game, pick heroes that you are best at. Keep in mind that you cannot swap with other players in Single Draft mode. If your team does not have a support, pick one. Likewise, if you picked early or you do not have a support in your three heroes to choose from, and nobody on your team picks a support, consider abandoning if at 5 games, or feeding if you've won one or more. I always abandon or feed if the bell has sounded and we don't have a courier - it's quicker that way.

Watch out for network conditions!

While you are in a Low Priority game, you should always check every fifteen minutes or so to make sure the game is not suffering from poor network conditions. If you get poor network conditions and the game becomes safe to leave, the game will not count as a win, even if you do win. In these situations, always abandon.

You will have to go back to the main menu to check, as this status is no longer announced in game. Be very careful about this and check frequently.

Before you flame me...

Low Priority is a bad system. It should be a simple matchmaking ban like in CSGO. However, because people playing the game won't buy hats if they can't play the game, Valve lets people 'play' while they are in Low Priority.

I don't like playing the way you have to in order to get out of Low Priority, but if you want to get out in a reasonable amount of time, you have to play the way I've described above.

If enough people play this way, Low Priority will be a complete trainwreck and Valve will be forced to do something about it. Until then, though, you will be able to get out much quicker following this guide rather than staying through and playing every match, no matter how hopeless.

I do not advocate abandoning or feeding in normal games and I wish to apologize for every game I've ruined in the course of doing my research for this guide.

My final advice is to never get into Low Priority if you can help it. It is a terrible system, fosters a terrible culture, and is generally unpleasant to deal with.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

[mango #5]

I'm a brand new player downloaded the game 2 days ago and I was reported into low priority. I don't know how to really play the game and the resources for learning are dense. I feel like this is a really harsh punishment for a new player to need to win games :(

[RainbowUnicorn]

Yeah the creators of Dota should be Epsteined for making Low priority. It's basically them saying they have smol pps. SAD.

[Super_]

They should remove leaver penalty and fix matchmaking. You can't even play co-op without getting put in low prio.

[QuidProQuo]

Hi, I keep getting into LP. I win 5 games in LP then 1 game in ranked, even I win the ranked game the next time I login I am still at LP requires 5 win.. Where can I send this issue, its the 3rd loop that it started me from LP.. HELP!

[PhantomOfSex]

i haven't played dota for over a year and 6 months at least.
been playing now for 2 weeks in turbo and getting even 5 wins so far using support and actually helping the team.
every game i immediatly type that im new and be patient with me and even i ask for tips.
had to leave a match for urgent issue, coming back then to notice im in LP. WTF???
been waiting for over 20 minutes for ONE single match to connect to and nothing. its like dota is not playable anymore. WHEN are we getting rid of this shit system? people have actual matters in life when they get to disconnect. ban us for 1 day 2 days i dunno but dont force us to single draft

[情欲]

ok ty

[Ironrock]

I would say that at least 80% of the people in low priority queue are assholes that deserve it. Period. Like "Mr. Majik SEEING that a player has already prepicked "Pugna" and says "I think I will play him". No, son, he already picked him and is waiting for his All pick opportunity. Pick someone else. Enjoy your low priority queue, asshole. Next, for the 20% that end in low priority: This real issue is playing UNRANKED games or RANKED games with a team that isn't working well together and you happen to pick a character that is has a high difficulty and can be picked on or focused. Yep..."YOU"RE A FEEDER". Reporting people for FEEDING is when they INTENTIONALLY DIE TO THE ENEMY ON PURPOSE. The issue with DOTA 2 Faggot player-base is that someone can be having a bad game and they are "FEEDERS".

[P A N A S O N I C]

My dota always crash while i play...just now it crash again...i dont abandon the game, it because the game was crash and i get low priority pool...it's not fair..i mean why am i get LP? I never abandon the game, only when the game get crash and i cant reconnect even i click the reconnect button but it insist to reconnect..

[Freaker]

For me it shows like You Have %s1 remaining in the low priority matchmaking pool due to abandoning game or excessive report i played 4 games and won yet it shows like this what to do??

[treborkillua1]

aug.4. 2018 review my last game why im low prio..1130pm -12mn.. u will notice what happen