Dota 2 Beginner Guide
What to play first, which role to learn, and why Turbo is not a substitute for last-hitting.
What you are actually playing
Dota 2 is a five-versus-five MOBA. You win by destroying the Ancient, which means towers, barracks, and not throwing fights on high ground. Kills are a resource you spend on objectives. A 15–2 scoreline with no rax is a screenshot, not a win.
The first week
Play New Player Mode and hero demos until you can last-hit under a tower and press every spell without opening the shop mid-fight. Then play unranked as position 5. Turbo is faster but hides last-hit timing and tower patterns — still do a few standard games. Do not queue ranked until you can buy a TP, pull a camp, and explain what a bounty rune is.
Tiny hero pool
One carry (Juggernaut or Wraith King), one offlaner (Tidehunter), one support (Crystal Maiden or Lion). A 40-hero pool with 0–12 on each is how you stay in the tutorial forever. Learn the map on a simple hero.
The loop
Lane until a timing, group for a tower or Roshan, then end with barracks. If your carry is 30 seconds from an item, take a wave or a stack instead of a river deathball. Town Portal scrolls are how you keep towers; walking back from a kill is how you lose two.
What good looks like after a week
You can pull the small camp, you buy wards as a support, you TP to a diving tower, and you stop diving high ground with no detection. Then add a second role — offlane before mid, mid before carry.