It is good to see you again, are you ready for the next stop? Got the weather report here and we've got heavy fog incoming. I can see by the quelling blade at your side that you made your own path. If you have fellows who wish to join us direct them here. I'll be honest with you, I'm lost, but in the name of Selemene; we, together shall find the way!

Vision

What is the most common cause of death in any game involving combat? The Unknown, this isn't a constant in any DotA2 situation. You can manipulate your surroundings to suit your needs i.e. destroying trees, controlling units and wards. The latter of these being the most important, you can gain static vision in a 1600 unit range wherever you place your Observer ward. There are two different types of vision; Natural Vision and True Sight.

Wards

There are two different variations of ward, Sentry and Observer both required for different situations but equally useful.

Natural Vision from an Observer Ward (1600 Range)﻿



True Sight from a Sentry Ward (70 Range)﻿

As you can see above, the Sentry ward doesn't provide a large amount of natural vision however it's true sight radius is 800.

Sentry and Observer ward placed together﻿. Note: This isn't the most optimal position for the sentry ward

The natural vision from the Observer ward allows the Sentry ward's True Sight to detect the opposing Rikimaru.

Vision Spells

Along with destroying trees and wards, you can cast certain spells to grant vision in an area. Spells like Windrunner's Powershot and Clockwerk's Rocket Flare can provide vision with a short cast time. This can allow you to scout areas safely or even look for enemies for potential engagements.

During Natus Vincere's International run they ran Pudge and Chen several times for the infamous fountain hook. In Game 3 of Na'Vi vs TongFu, Na'Vi paired Pudge with a Windrunner and used the Powershot to scout areas for Pudge to have a more accurate chance of hooking.

Smoke and Dust

These are two items commonly used in the higher skill brackets have a prominent place in the players arsenal. Smoke of Deceit will grant invisibility and 15% movement speed in a 1200 range for 40 seconds. This will be dispelled upon auto attack or enemy hero in 1025 range with sight.





This is used to bypass Observer wards and the superior movement speed allows you to close the distance on opponents faster. Since Nighttime vision is generally 800* the 1025 dispel range allows you to be unseen running through a lane to gank an enemy hero.

Dust of Appearance is used as a consumable Gem of True Sight which upon activation places a true sight debuff upon enemies which keeps them in sight if they become or are invisible.

For situations where you can't CC enemy heroes in place, dust will be your first port of call as the true sight follows the hero rather than is a static 800 AOE range around the ward.

High and Low Ground

One of the trickier vision problem stems from the high and low ground; as you're unable to see units on the high ground when you're on the low. This issue is ever present in the Middle lane with the river creating a low ground. Being a melee hero in the middle lane is a much higher risk as you're required to play on the low ground to achieve last hits, making it easy for your opponents to gank you from the opposing high ground.

Field of Vision and Fog of War

With the Day and Night cycle restricting and restoring your vision, it is simpler for your opponents to pull off smoke ganks or even normal ganks. It requires careful yet precise positioning to be able to spot such ganks. A quick example of this positioning comes from The International 2012 in the Winner Bracket Semi-Final, Natus Vincere vs LGD-Gaming. In this clip you can see Danylo 'Dendi' Ishutin positioned around the trees dispelling the smoke gank from LGD-Gaming. Even though Dendi dies, you can see the importance of positioning regarding your own Field of Vision and the Fog of War.

My friends, we find ourselves at the end of tonights antics, through trials and tribulations we have perservered and now the end is in the sight. However, we still have a few stops to make, here's a little clue regarding our next stop; down the next lane, our guides will reveal themselves, but for now we'll call them 1,4 and 5.