Helpful links and tips for DotA 2 players old and new

I'll use this thread to help compile up stuff that can help out new players to DoTA 2. Whoever gives a new tip or link I'll be sure to credit them.

Now let's start off with the basics:

DotA 2 wiki: http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Dota_2_Wiki
This will be the main site where information about stuff in the game will be constantly added. Some good stuff even includes all the voices for each hero and announcer packs.


DOTAFire DotA 2 Builds & Guides for Hero Strategy: http://www.dotafire.com/
This is one of the main sites to look up builds and guides for each hero. A word of warning though that some of the guides may be a bit outdated, but it's still a good place to get information.

DotA 2 Reddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/
Like the LoL reddit section, it's a nice catch-all section for anything DotA 2 related. Mostly involves funny/cool stuff, as well as daily discussions about an in-game item or hero.





Now onto helpful Youtube channels:

Purge: http://www.youtube.com/user/PurgeGamers
This guy posts up entire games of a hero he picks, so you can watch his videos to get an idea of how to play just about any hero. Just type up "Purge plays" and whatever hero you want to learn, and he'll have a video of it where he either does a live commentary on his gameplay or does a replay commentary.

Usually his replays has him able to point out more mistakes since he's not so engaged that he can see where he goofs up.


Merlini: http://www.youtube.com/user/MerliniDota
This guy was a really pro DotA player, where he was famously known for playing Zeus. He does a mailbag series where he does a presentation style video of tips and tricks for the game. Examples are how to still win when you're behind in a game.


DotACinema: http://www.youtube.com/user/DotaCinema
This is a mega-channel with videos of all types. Most helpful for new players would be the introduction videos they make for each hero. There are occasionally guides or the heroes as well. Just search up "DotaCinema" and whatever hero you're looking for and get a intro video to that hero.

Other videos series of notice are:
-Learn DotA 2
-Top 10 Weekly
-Fails of the Week
-DotA 2 Mythbusters
-DotA 2 Symphony of Skills
-DotA 2 workshop items


While not entirely a helpful channel, this person deserves notice:
Pyrion Flax: http://www.youtube.com/user/tedhimself
For humor, there's the famous Pyrion Flax, who makes satirical videos on how he plays DotA, include "guides" to heroes. He also got his own announcer pack into the game (think the LoL announcer voice that tells you when someone gets killed, but way more expansive and interactive).

Add Sad Onion Dota!
Not guide related or helpful but it has nice music for each hero, with some of their lines or the sound of some of their skills:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI-Sf...=TLQr9jdXCYP5Y
Sproink!

EDIT: A better description of DotaFire is, it isn't a place to read about skill and items builds but their explanation of the Heroes. Most guides there have strenghts/weaknesses, what can that hero do, a brief explanation of their skills (or really long ones that explain mechanics and other complicated stuff), which I think is really good. Following just one item/skill build that you saw online might not be that helpful and maybe limiting, since every game is different.

I'd also add joindota.com because it's has a decent user interface to see who is streaming and what tournaments are being held. I recommend staying away from the forums, though. Watching some pro games helps understand heroes and situation.

Beyond the Summit youtube or their twitch channel, if you want to watch some tournament games with commentators. The commentators on BTS are rather knowledgeable, funny and biased (which I think is also funny). It's possible to learn a lot watching pro games, but it's important to remember that pubs behave in a very different way.

But BTS doesn't cast every tournament so there's also Join Dota youtube channel and it's main caster Tobi Wan's twitch. He has a particular style while casting that many like because it makes watching games more interesting. When I first watched his TI2 casting I didn't really enjoy it, but once I understood a bit more about the game I also understood his hype and made it one of my favorite casters.

Team Liquid: http://www.teamliquid.net/
DotA2 Liquipedia: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/Main_Page
Team liquid probably has some of the absolutely best DotA2 coverage(for e-sports) along with the DotA2 liquipedia which includes some stuff that the regular DotA2 wiki doesn't.
Such as being more focused around stuff like:
Recent tournaments: http://wiki.teamliquid.net/dota2/Rec...nament_Results
It's essentially a bit more E-sport focused.

The DotA2 blog: http://blog.dota2.com/
News from valve about the game.
The DotA2 developer forums: http://dev.dota2.com/forum.php
Bug reports and so on.

http://www.dota2alttab.com/ is a good quick resource. I use it pretty frequently to get a feel for a hero.

if you're wondering about certain mechanics, the absolute number one best place to check is on the Playdota advanced mechanics subforum, especially in the advanced mechanics guides.

Liked this video featured in Kotaku.
For new players:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzyYKUzxO-M

This has helped me a lot. I understand it's situational and that sometimes you want to stick around and help with your autoattacks but I think having those things in mind is what helps me survive when playing Wind Runner, it's a shame that early on her mana pool is so low and you can only cast 3-4 spells before going oom... and utility items are a must to survive or else, one must save mana for escape windrun. I need to learn this but with Kunkka, or any other Hero that has a passive that's as annoying as his. Even as ranged I feel like it's hard to avoid that damned splash.
Anyway:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ihVc2swLPQ
I haven't watched his other videos, but I think this one is helpful.

http://dota2draft.net/

Looks fun and an interesting way to learn except there's no feedback :/